You're The One That I Want
by phoenixnz
Summary: Smallville, 1959. Clark Luthor is the leader of a gang. Lois Lane is the good girl. But not all is as it seems. NB: Some characters might seem OOC but things will change. A Smallville adaptation of Grease. It loosely follows the movie at first, but will have my own twist.
1. Prologue

Prologue

Lois Lane stripped off as much of her clothing as was allowed and lay on the towel on the sand beside Crater Lake. There weren't that many people swimming in the water, or sunbathing for that matter. It was just too hot a day to move and most of the townspeople were at home, melting in the heat, their fans going full blast.

Lois liked the people she was staying with. Martha and Jonathan Kent were farmers, although Jonathan had served under her father for a year in Korea while Martha had taken care of the farm. It hadn't been easy, especially as she worried about her husband being over in the middle of the fighting on the 38th Parallel, but she had managed.

When General Sam Lane had been seconded to Washington DC for a couple of months, he had decided the best place for his daughter was in Smallville, staying with the former sergeant. Lois was eighteen and she hadn't seen any reason why she couldn't have just stayed on barracks, but her father was a stickler for the rules and his decision had been final.

The one good thing was Lois' cousin Chloe lived in Smallville. The only problem with that had been that Chloe had been sent to stay with her father's cousin in California. Chloe Sullivan seemed to have a nose for trouble. Of course, Chloe had told Lois, she might not have got into trouble in the first place if it hadn't been for Lana.

Lana was the undisputed leader of their 'girl gang', which they called the Pink Ladies. Not that they ever got into any real trouble. They ruled Smallville High. Even the smarmy cheerleaders couldn't seem to get an edge over them.

Lois sighed. The heat was bearing down on her and she really needed to cool off. She got up, running over to the small pier and turned around, planning to do a twisting dive into the water. As soon as she spun in the air, the back of her head hit the edge and she fell into the water, blacking out.

XXXXXXXXX

Clark Luthor had been sitting near the water's edge, watching the young brunette as she lay on the towel. She was beautiful. Clark had been with a lot of girls, not that he'd actually gone all the way with any of them, but this girl put the competition to shame. Long, brown legs, slim figure, perfect, round breasts and plump, juicy lips. The average human wouldn't be able to see such detail from that distance, but then Clark was no average human.

Clark had been adopted by Lionel and Lillian Luthor when he was three years old. He had always been strong, but as he grew he began to develop other abilities as well, including speed, which he discovered when he was seven, impenetrable skin and enhanced visual capability.

When he was fifteen, he'd gone to his father asking why he was different from his brother Lex, who was bald. Lionel had finally showed him the spaceship he had come in and told him Clark was meant to rule the world.

Clark didn't want to rule the world, but to appease his father, he had pretended to go along with it. Now that he was eighteen, there was no way he was going to bow down to the old man's wishes. Or even Lex's, who was very firmly under their father's thumb. It wasn't that Lex was weak. Clark supposed in many ways that his brother was jealous of Clark's abilities. Lex obeyed all their father's edicts, thinking if he continued to go along with the party line, Lionel might actually love him more than Clark.

Lex had moved to Smallville after his father had told him to take over the Smallville fertiliser plant. He'd then sent Clark to live with his brother, expecting him to attend Smallville High. Lex's biological half-brother, Lucas, and half-sister, Tess, also lived with them. Not that it was that bad. Clark and his friends now ruled the school as the T-Birds. Everyone in school was afraid of them, especially the way they strutted around like they owned the place. Even the teachers gave them a wide berth when they were about.

Lionel, for his part, was delighted in the way Clark had shown his mettle.

Clark sighed. He was sick of being the ringleader of a group of idiots. He was sick of the Pink Ladies and the way they all hung around him like he was the Master of the Universe or something.

Clark sat up suddenly, watching as the pretty brunette got up and walked over to the dive board. He frowned. Her stance wasn't quite right if she was going to do what he thought she was going to do. As she leapt off the board, she spun and her head caught the edge. Clark winced. That looked bad.

After a few seconds, it was becoming clear that she wasn't coming back up. Clark ran to the water, ignoring the protests from the few stragglers who had braved the heat. He dove headfirst into the blue water, opening his eyes to look for the girl. She was falling to the bottom of the lake. It wasn't too deep here, but she could still drown, he thought.

He moved quickly, pulling her into his arms and swam until his feet could touch the ground and carried her out onto the sand. Laying her carefully down, Clark checked to make sure she was breathing, wondering if he should get help. The girl began to cough and splutter, spitting out a mouthful of water.

XXXXXXX

Lois came to and saw the most beautiful green eyes she had ever seen in her life looming over her.

"Are you all right?" he asked, his expression full of concern.

Lois pressed a shaky hand to her aching head.

"I'm okay," she said.

"You got a pretty good bump there," he said, stroking the hair away from her forehead. "And you swallowed a lot of water. Maybe I should take you to the medical centre and get you checked out."

"I'm fine, really," she said, sitting up. Bad idea, she thought as her head began to swim. "Uhh ..."

The boy helped her to her feet and she swayed dizzily.

"That's it. I'm taking you to the clinic," he said. "You might have a concussion or something."

Lois leaned against him as they walked over to where she had stashed her things.

"Is this your stuff?" he asked.

She nodded dumbly, watching weakly as he picked up her clothes and stuffed them in her bag. She stepped carefully over the rough ground until he decided she wasn't walking fast enough and scooped her up in his arms.

Within about a minute, she found herself on the bench seat of a Chevy convertible. It looked almost brand new. The boy kept his arm around her as he started the car and reversed away from the other vehicles parked beside the lake.

"My name's Clark," he said. "Clark Luthor."

"Lois Lane," she said faintly, her head still pounding. Her stomach roiled with nausea.

"Are you okay? You're not going to, you know, ralph or anything, are you?"

"Ralph?"

"You know. Throw up?"

"Oh no. I – I don't think so."

"Okay. We'll be there in a few minutes."

Lois thought she might have passed out as they were at the medical centre before realised. Clark got out of the car and helped her out the other side, letting her lean on him as they walked inside.

XXXXXXX

Clark watched as the attending doctor checked Lois over, shining a light into her eyes and checking her pulse. The nurse came out and frowned at him. Clark remembered her from a dance he'd gone to in his freshman year. Everyone had always thought he was older than he looked and he was always getting asked out by older girls.

"Clark? Were you the one who brought in Miss Lane?"

He nodded. "She's going to be okay, isn't she?"

"She's fine. Just a little concussed. You were right to bring her in."

The nurse, Linda, continued to prattle on while Clark watched an older couple come in. The man was about Clark's height, blonde and tanned. He appeared to be a man of the land, his hands callused from manual labour. The woman had red hair, almost the same colour as his mother's had once been and a beautiful face.

Clark tuned Linda out and listened in as the couple went in to see Lois.

"Oh Lois, sweetheart, are you all right?" the woman was enquiring.

"I'm fine, Mrs Kent. Clark brought me in and made sure the doctor saw to me."

"Clark? As in Clark Luthor? That boy is nothing but bad news, Lois."

"He saved me, Mr Kent. If it hadn't been for him I would have drowned."

"Be that as it may, the Luthors are ..."

"Jonathan, dear, now is not the time. I just thank God you're all right, Lois. I was frantic when the nurse called."

Clark wondered how Lois was related to the couple. He vaguely knew the Kents as he had seen them around town a few times. She didn't call them Aunt or Uncle, so they were clearly not blood relatives.

The doctor was speaking to the older couple. He was clearly letting Lois go home with them, although they would have to keep an eye on her. Clark waited, unsure what to do as Mrs Kent bustled about, helping Lois get dressed, then approached them as they left the room.

Jonathan Kent sent him a hard look.

"Luthor," he said with what could never be mistaken for anything but hostility.

"I just wanted to make sure Lois was all right," he said. He smiled at her.

"I'm okay, Clark. Thank you for saving me."

He grinned broadly. She seemed like a sweet girl.

"I'm glad." He shifted nervously at the glare from the older man. "Well, I should go."

Lois seemed to bite her lip. "Wait." She took her bag from Mrs Kent and pulled out something. It appeared to be a notebook of some kind. He watched as she tore a strip and wrote on it, then gave it to him.

"It's my number," she said softly. "In case you want to call and, you know, check up on me."

Oh, she was brazen, he thought. He liked that. Ignoring the outrage from the blonde man, he folded the little slip of paper and put it in his pocket.

He did call her the next day. She sounded as if she was completely recovered.

"So, uh, I was wondering if you'd like to go see a movie with me," he said. "Over in Granville."

XXXXXXX

Lois felt her heart give a jump in excitement. She didn't question why he wanted to go to Granville.

"I'd love to," she said.

Clark told her he would pick her up at the house in half an hour. Lois hung up and ran up to her bedroom to change her clothes, ending up staring at the closet wondering what to put on.

"Going somewhere, Lois?" Martha asked.

"The movies," she said. "With a ... with a friend."

Martha frowned. "You mean Clark Luthor. Sweetheart, don't you think ..."

"He seems nice, and it's just the movies."

"The Luthors have a bad reputation," the redhead told her, the concern in her expression clear.

"I can take care of myself, Mrs K. Please, please ..."

"I don't know. I don't think your father would be too happy about you going out with one of the Luthors."

"He doesn't have to know," Lois pleaded. "And Clark doesn't seem all that bad. He saved me. I mean why would he do that if he wasn't a good guy?"

"Sweetheart, we're just trying to look out for you, that's all," Martha said gently. "Perhaps ..."

Lois sent the older woman a stubborn look as she applied lipstick and pulled her hair back into a long ponytail. She quickly donned the skirt and blouse she had picked out, smoothing the fabric. Martha sighed. Lois held back the grin, knowing she'd won.

"All right," Martha told her. "But Clark isn't going to be allowed to just sit in his car in the driveway. He must come up to the house and talk to us."

"Yes Mrs K."

She ran down the stairs when she heard the car engine and out the door. Clark was lounging casually against the seat, his smile so bright it could light up the county.

"Hi," she said, suddenly feeling shy, which wasn't like her at all. "Um, you have to come inside and, um ..."

Clark nodded and got out, following her up the steps. Martha was pretending to be busy with the laundry, but she stepped out of the kitchen.

"Hello Clark. It's nice to see you," she said politely. "Lois said you two were going to the movies?"

"Yes ma'am," he said, equally politely. "They're showing The Shaggy Dog in Granville. I saw it in Metropolis a while ago with my brother and sister, but I liked it. I know it's a silly movie, but I thought Lois would like it. If she hasn't seen it already."

Lois shook her head. She hadn't seen it, but had heard it was a fun movie.

The screen door slammed and Lois heard the heavy steps of Jonathan. Clark turned, holding out a hand to the blonde man, who was about as tall as Clark, although not as broad.

"Clark," he said gruffly. "I hear you're taking Lois to the movies."

"Yes sir."

Lois held back a grin at the 'aw shucks' expression on Clark's face.

"I see."

"Sir, I promise I will treat Lois like a lady."

"You better, or I will have strong words. You Luthors have a reputation in this town and I don't like it."

"I know a lot of people don't like my father, or my brother, Mr Kent, but I'm not them. I just thought Lois might like to go out and have some fun. If that's all right with you, sir."

"Fine. You have her back here by nine, or nine-thirty at the latest, and no funny business."

Lois followed Clark out to the car, waiting until they were out of the gate before she burst out laughing.

"No funny business? Oh my gosh, he's so ... so ..."

Clark took his eyes off the road to smile at her. "I know, but at least he cares. My father doesn't care what we do as long as we don't get caught. You should have seen him when the sheriff put Lucas in jail last year for boosting a car. He was so mad Lucas couldn't sit down for a week."

"So you go to Smallville High, right?" she said.

He nodded. "I'll be a senior this year. So will Lucas and Tess."

Lois frowned. "I thought they were older than you."

"Well, Tess is a couple years older than me, but she got mono her junior year and she was pretty sick so she finished out her junior year last year, and Lucas didn't show up at school a lot last year, so he has to repeat his senior year. Me, well, I kind of got bumped up a grade when I was in Middle School."

"So how come you all live with your older brother?"

"Dad figured us living in a small town, we couldn't get into so much trouble like we could in the city. I mean, like I say, he doesn't care if we do get in trouble, as long as nobody catches us, you know?"

"He sounds like a great dad," she sighed. "I mean, my dad's so strict, he won't let me do anything."

"Don't be fooled, Lois. It might seem like a real picnic, being able to do what you want, but it's not. I mean, he's always talking about how I've got this great future in the family business, like it's my destiny, and I don't know how to change it."

Lois rubbed his arm, feeling bad for him. She had the impression that Clark hid his feelings about his family for the sake of harmony but he wasn't nearly as bad as he was painted to be.

XXXXXXXXXX

Clark took every opportunity he could to spend time with Lois. He was always polite to the Kents, even helping out with chores, although when he went home Lucas and Tess would always sniff at him and tell him he smelled like cow dung. Of course, around his brother and sister he would swagger and brag how he and a girl were making out in the barn, where her parents couldn't see them. He had a reputation to uphold, after all.

The truth was, he hadn't done anything more with Lois than give her a sweet kiss as they sat in the car. Lois was a good girl, even if she did chafe at the restrictions her father or the Kents put on her. To Clark, that just added to his attraction for her, although he was very sure that a girl as sheltered as Lois Lane would run a mile if she knew that he spent half his nights awake touching himself thinking about her.

Over the next few weeks, he and Lois spent time in the arcade in Granville, playing ten-pin bowling, or just walking along the main street looking in the shops. He had seen Lois looking in the window of the local jewellers at a heart-shaped locket, so when she wasn't looking, he'd gone and bought it for her.

The summer was coming to an end and Clark realised it was almost time for him and Lois to say goodbye. Her father would be returning from Washington and would be transferring to Germany. Lois wasn't happy about having to leave the States, although there was one bright spot, she'd told him, since Elvis was apparently stationed there.

Clark had pretended to be miffed that Lois would prefer Elvis over him but Lois' grin had told him she was only teasing.

Clark was on his way out of the mansion to spend the afternoon at the lake with Lois when he was stopped by a voice from the study.

"Son, would you come in here a moment."

Swallowing, he entered the study. Lex and his father were going over some papers.

"Where do you go on these mysterious outings of yours?" Lionel asked. "From what Lex tells me, you've barely been here all summer."

"It's my business where I go," he said. "I'm not getting into any trouble."

"I'm sure I would have heard by now if you had," his father told him.

"As long as you don't go knocking her up," Lex commented, making it clear he knew Clark had been out with a girl. "We really wouldn't want to have to pay the girl off."

Clark glowered at his brother. Sometimes Lex just annoyed him.

"What I do with my girl is nothing to do with you," he said.

Lex stood up. "I beg to differ. Everything you do in this town reflects on us."

Clark snorted. "You seemed to like it better when Lucas and I were boosting cars."

"Teenage shenanigans aside, Clark, you must understand that I cannot let this continue. You have a destiny far greater than this town and this girl you've been seen with. Besides that, I know the girl is staying with Martha and Jonathan Kent."

"What are they to you?" Clark asked his father hotly.

"That is my business. You are to stop seeing this girl at once."

"You can't tell me what to do. Besides, she's going to Germany with her dad and I'll probably never see her again."

"Good. That's the end of it then."

Clark strode angrily out of the study. It wasn't fair, he thought. He could get away with doing anything else, but as soon as he found a girl he really liked, they were all over him about his stupid 'destiny'.

He picked Lois up from the farm and drove them to the lake. Lois had brought a picnic basket and they sat quietly eating the sandwiches Martha had made and drank soda pop.

Lois noticed he was quiet.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"It's my dad. He was here today, lecturing me. I hate it here, Lois. I wish ... I wish I could go to Germany with you."

"You mean, run away?" she said, her eyes wide. "What about school?"

"Who cares about school? I mean, who needs history, or maths, or English."

"What about being a reporter?" she asked. "I thought that was what you wanted?"

He'd told her his dream of being a reporter at the Daily Planet, although he knew it was a pipe dream, since his father wanted him to use his abilities in the family business. Which probably meant he wanted him to 'strong-arm' his business rivals or use his super-hearing to be an industrial spy or suchlike.

Lois gently stroked his cheek.

"It's not fair," she said. "But we can still write and call each other. I've just had the most amazing summer and I know I'll never forget it as long as I live."

"Me either," he said.

He remembered the locket and took it out of his jeans pocket.

"I want you to have this," he told her, handing her the little box. "To remember me when you're in Germany."

She opened the box, her eyes shining.

"Oh Clark, I love it," she said. She held it up by the chain and smiled at him. "Please put it on me."

She turned her back to him, holding up her long hair as he dropped the chain around her neck and fastened it, kissing her shoulder. She turned in his arms and tilted her head, letting him kiss her lips gently.

The waves lapped gently as they sat while the sun began to set. Summer was over.


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter One

First day of school and Lana Lang was already bored. They hadn't even stepped through the main gate before the triplets, otherwise known as Mandy, Mara and Jade, pounced on them.

"Sign up sheets for the squad," Mandy twittered.

Lana rolled her eyes. "As if I would ever be a cheerleader," she said.

"Wasn't your mom a cheerleader?" Tess asked.

"Yeah, thanks for that reminder, Loser!"

Chloe pulled half of the gum she had been chewing and rolled it around her finger. Mandy glared at her.

"That is so disgusting!" she said.

"Then get out of my face," Chloe told her.

Mandy tossed her dyed blonde hair and turned away with a 'hmph'. Chloe went back to chewing her gum.

"She's right, though," Tess commented. "That was pretty disgusting."

"No one asked you, Loser!" Chloe said smartly.

Tess screwed up her nose. "Oh look," she said, pointing to a young blonde with zits all over her face.

"God, what a skag," Lana snorted, glaring at Abby for even daring to occupy the same space as her.

"You'd think her mom would do something for those craters on her face," Chloe sneered. Abby's face flushed; she'd obviously overheard Chloe's remark. Elise Fine was a cosmetologist, but she clearly hadn't given her daughter any tips.

"Who cares?" Lana told her, entering the main hallway to go to her locker.

"Well, I don't," Tess told her friends. "I'm just glad that after this year there'll be no more school. I want out of this freakin' town."

"If you hadn't got sick, you might have got out last year."

"Are you kidding? The old man came down over summer. He wants me to go to finishing school in Switzerland after this year is over. So I can 'learn to act like a lady'!" She rolled her eyes. "Finishing school! God, I hate him!"

"Yeah, Aunt Nell wants me to move to Metropolis when school is over."

"That's not so bad," Chloe told her friend. "At least you'll get out of this crap town."

XXXXXX

Clark swaggered in through the school gates, careful to maintain his reputation as the cool 'leader of the gang' despite his ambivalence. He saw his brother and their friend Jimmy already ragging on one of the nerds.

"Hey, Sheldon," Lucas sneered, grabbing a paper bag from him, while Jimmy tried to give the dude a wedgie. Sheldon flapped at his ass and squirmed away from Jimmy.

"Give that back," he whined at Lucas.

"Is that your lunch? Did your mommy make it for you?" Jimmy laughed.

"Guys, be cool, huh?"

Lucas looked at him. "Hey bro, so where you been all summer, huh?"

"Ditching summer school, unlike you dorks."

"If it hadn't been for Chrome Dome, I wouldn't have gone either," Lucas told him, falling into step beside him as they walked through the entry doors into the hallway.

Clark thought he spotted Lana, Chloe and Tess talking by one of the lockers, but ignored them. He'd ditched Lana months ago and there was no way he wanted to get involved in that mess again.

Lucas looked depressed. Lex had told Lucas he either had to go to summer school or Lex wouldn't bribe the judge into suspending Lucas' sentence after he'd been caught stealing. Clark had no doubt Lucas would have gone to jail, since it had been the fourth time he'd been arrested. Lucas just wasn't smart enough to not get caught.

Jimmy, on the other hand, had never really done anything worse than lifting the occasional candy bar, or boost a car. Which wasn't so bad. Everybody who was anybody did it.

The triplets, Mandy, Mara and Jade checked them out as they passed. Clark noticed the vultures hanging around trying to get the cheerleaders to notice them.

"Hi Clark," Mandy said, smiling brightly, so sure of herself.

Clark had taken her to the drive-in last fall and felt her up in the car. The slag thought it meant they were going steady, even though Clark hadn't gone all the way with her. Still, he had a reputation to keep and he smiled back at her, sauntering over and standing close to her, as if he was going to kiss her.

"Hey Mandy."

"Looking good, Clark," she said, running her hand over his bare arm. "You been working out? You're so ... muscly."

Clark suppressed the urge to roll his eyes and grinned.

"You know it, baby."

"Yo, Clark!" Lucas called.

Clark pulled away from the blonde, pretending to be reluctant.

"Sorry, duty calls," he said.

He rejoined his brother and continued walking with Lucas and Jimmy down the corridor, nodding his head at the guys who weren't quite part of the gang but were still worth acknowledging. He passed a group of jocks who were shooting the shit. The jocks glared at them. Everyone one of those dips thought they were the coolest guys in the school, Clark thought, but they were wrong.

They made their way over to shop class, where Whitney had told them he'd be. Whitney was a couple years older than Clark, but he'd been kept back a couple of times, mostly for flunking all his classes and getting sent to the principal's office more than a dozen times a year. Whitney was probably the smartest guy Clark knew, next to him or Lex, but he just couldn't be bothered with it.

The blonde came out of the workshop, wiping his hands on a dirty rag.

"Hey Whit," Jimmy said, acting like an overgrown puppy. "Where have you been all summer?"

"Working."

Jimmy cocked an eyebrow. "Working?"

"At my dad's store, moron!"

"For what?" Clark asked.

"Like you care, rich boy. I've been saving up for some wheels."

"Yeah? What wheels?" Clark snorted. "Finally decided to get rid of the training wheels?"

"Screw you, Luthor. I got me a car."

"Yeah, where is it?" Clark asked, looking around. He saw what looked like a car underneath a huge canvas dropcloth in the workshop and went to lift the edge. Whitney stepped in front of him.

"It ain't done yet," he said, looking embarrassed.

"C'mon, really, what's under there?"

"I said later, man, come on!"

The bell rang, interrupting them before Whitney could show them the car. Clark decided to x-ray underneath the dropcloth, ignoring the knowing smirk from Lucas. The car was a hunk of junk, but he figured Whit would just cry like a girl if he ragged on him about it.

They walked to their homerooms together, sighing at the thought of another year of torture.

"So?" Lucas asked.

"So what?"

"Is it a piece of sh ..."

"Luc, shut the hell up," Clark said, giving his brother a noogie. Lucas might be a year or so older than him, but Clark was way taller and way cooler.

Lucas glared at him through hooded eyes, but shrugged and carried on walking.

XXXXXXX

Lois walked along the corridor, feeling lost. Her father had gone to Germany but she was still staying with the Kents. Sam Lane had decided it would be better for her to stay in America rather than be dragged halfway around the world.

She missed her father. He probably wasn't the greatest dad in the world, but apart from her little sister Lucy, who was currently in a boarding school in Europe, and Chloe, of course, he was all the family she had. Her mother had died when she was six, and while Lois did miss her mother dreadfully sometimes, her father did everything he could to make up for the loss.

Most of the time, at least, she thought.

Chloe had been surprised when Lois had told her she was staying in Smallville.

"Why?" her cousin had asked.

Lois shrugged. "I don't know. I guess he thinks I can't get up to much trouble in a small town."

"Are you kidding?" the blonde had said, snickering.

The only bright spot of the whole arrangement had been the possibility of seeing Clark again. She had meant every word she had told him. Summer really had been amazing. She had never thought she would meet someone as special as Clark Luthor.

She still felt tingles in her body when she thought about him. One night they'd been lying on a blanket, looking up at the stars. Clark could name every constellation. He'd pointed out one that looked like a wolf, with one eye missing.

"It did have one," he'd said.

"What happened to it?" she asked softly.

"I don't know," he answered, rolling over to kiss her, and that pretty much ended any conversation.

Gosh he was a great kisser, she thought.

As she found her way to the school office and dumped her transcripts on the counter, she looked at the short woman standing beside her, talking to the school secretary.

"I'm out of detention slips," she complained.

"Already?" the other woman asked, the disbelief clear in her expression.

"Yeah, well Kenickie decided it would be a great time to make spit balls and throw them at Patty Simcox." The woman groaned. "I wish it was Christmas vacation already," she sighed.

The secretary chuckled. "Don't we all." She looked at Lois. "Can I help you dear?"

"Oh yes, my name is Lois Lane. I'm new."

"Oh, of course, your father called us about you. Well, here is your class schedule. Give me those," she added, taking the sheaf of papers from Lois. "Your homeroom is room 26."

Lois looked over the paper. "Where is room 26?" she asked.

The woman standing beside her smiled.

"That's my room. Come with me."

Lois followed the woman out with a brief nod at the secretary and walked along the corridor.

"Have you just moved here?" the woman, who introduced herself as Mrs Murdock said.

"I was meant to go to Germany with my dad," she said. "He's a general in the army. Anyway, he thought it would be better for me to stay here."

"You're staying with Martha and Jonathan Kent?" Mrs Murdock asked.

"Yes ma'am. They're nice people."

"They are," the teacher nodded. "Well, here we are dear." She paused at the door. "Before we go in, just let me warn you. There are a couple of boys here who might be troublesome. They're not bad boys, just a little ... well, when they see a pretty girl ..."

"I can take care of myself," Lois smiled. "Thank you."

She was conscious of the eyes on her as the teacher walked in.

"Class, this is Lois Lane. She will be joining us for the year." The woman turned back to her. "Why don't you go find a seat dear."

Lois saw an empty desk at the back and walked along the row of tables. A boy and girl were talking, leaning over the gap between the tables. Another boy was lounging in his chair, his feet up on another chair. Lois paused, looking at the boy, who just smirked up at her. She continued standing, refusing to move around, her gaze turning into a glare. The boy finally got the message and moved his feet so Lois could pass.

She couldn't help but hear the comments about her, but ignored them. She strained to hear the principal's announcement over the loudspeaker.

"Good morning and welcome to all students, new and old ..." Eyes in the classroom all turned to look at Lois and she squirmed uncomfortably in her seat. "... to another year at Smallville High. This year we have a new assistant coach who will be working with Coach Quigley and I'm sure you will make Coach Teague very welcome. Sign up sheets for the Crows will be in the gym."

One of the boys cupped his mouth with his hand and began making quacking noises.

"Our first pep rally will be this Friday night and I expect you all out there supporting our team as they head into what we hope will be a winning year.

"Now for some exciting news. The National Bandstand television show has chosen Smallville to represent high schools across the nation and will be broadcasting live from our very own gym. It's our chance to show the American public just what clean cut, wholesome students we have here at Smallville High."

One of the boys sitting near Lois answered that with a spitball which landed in the hair of a girl with long, dark blonde hair. She squealed and turned in her seat, giving the boy a tearful glare and ran out, her hand in her hair.

Welcome to Smallville High, Lois thought.

The morning dragged. Lois walked through the corridors to each class with her head down. Other students still commented, with some of the boys making lewd comments, but she ignored them, determined to just get through the day without incident.

She did wonder if she would bump into Clark, but she supposed he was in different classes to her. Lois had never been the greatest of students, but she was determined to at least graduate with a good grade point average. Like Clark, she couldn't get out of the town fast enough.

Lois found the locker she had been assigned and prepared to go to lunch. She fingered the locket around her neck, her thoughts on Clark once more.

"Lois!"

She turned and looked around at her cousin.

"Chloe! Oh boy, am I glad to see you!" she said, hugging the blonde.

"Yeah. Come on and meet the girls."

"I don't know, Chloe, I just ..."

"It's just lunch," Chloe said with a chuckle.

The two girls linked arms and walked to the school cafeteria. As they approached a table where a redhead and a brunette were sitting, Lois noticed the brunette shouting cruel taunts to a girl with a bad complexion. Chloe laughed out loud at the brunette's taunts.

"Chloe!" Lois admonished her.

"Oh come on, Lois, it's all in fun."

"That's not fun. That's just cruel. I never thought you would ..."

Her cousin frowned, biting her lip.

"Lois, you don't know how it is. I mean if you want to fit in ... Besides, we all call each other names."

"It's still not right, Chlo."

"Since when did you become such a goody two-shoes?" her cousin asked.

"Since I know what it's like to be the new kid and not have any friends."

"I'm sorry. You're right. I should know better not to join in with Lana and her stupid games," her cousin said. "I know what it's like to be the new kid too."

"So," the redhead was saying. "You-know-who is looking pretty good this year, if I do say so myself."

"God, you're his sister! Besides, that's ancient history," the brunette snorted derisively.

"Hey guys, guess who started school with us this year?"

"Who? Elvis?" the redhead asked.

Chloe rolled her eyes. "No. This is my cousin. Lois. Lois, this is Lana and that's Tess."

"Hi," Lana said, looking bored.

"I got new glasses this year," Tess said, putting them on to read something in her notebook. "Whaddya think? Do you think they make me look smarter?"

"With that face? Not a chance." Chloe grinned at her cousin. "So how are you liking Smallville so far?"

"I spent the summer here. It's all right."

"Yeah? Where?" Lana asked.

Lois didn't get a chance to answer as a blonde approached the table.

"Hi, you must be Lois," she said. "I'm Mandy."

"Hi."

"You know, cheerleader tryouts are tomorrow," Mandy said.

"I don't know. I don't think I'd be any good as a cheerleader."

"Oh no, I think you'll be great," Mandy said with a smirk at Lana and the other two girls. "Besides, you don't want to be seen hanging out with these losers. You'll get a bad reputation."

"Hey!" Chloe said. "I resemble that remark!"

Lois sighed. She really did want to fit in, but she just couldn't picture herself as a cheerleader. She continued to talk to the cheerleader, just to be polite, until Lana turned back to her.

"So you didn't answer my question."

"I spent most of it at the lake. I met a boy there."

She hadn't even had a chance to tell Chloe about the boy she'd met.

"A boy, huh?" Tess asked. "Cute?"

"Very," she sighed. "I nearly drowned and he saved me. Next day, he called me up and invited me to the movies and we just spent the rest of the summer together, driving around, spending time in the arcade. He was really sweet."

"Just sweet?" Lana snorted. "Yeah, sure he is. I'm betting he was just thinking up ways to get in your panties."

"It wasn't like that," Lois protested.

Lana just grinned and shook her head. "That's all guys ever want. My ex-boyfriend was just the same."

"Yeah? How many times did you get past third base with him?" Tess asked.

"That's for me to know," Lana told her.

"Well, the boy I met wasn't like that at all," Lois told her. "He was good to me."

"No such thing," Lana smirked.

The bell rang and Lois once more played with the locket on the chain. Tess' eyes widened as she saw the locket.

"Well, I have to go," Lois said. "I have a class."

Chloe looked at her friend. "What's the matter with you?" she asked.

"Wanna know who her Romeo is?" Tess asked, smirking at Lois' retreating form.

"No," Lana said. "Not particularly."

"Oh this should interest you," the redhead snickered. "I've seen that locket before."

"Where?" Chloe asked, leaning forward.

"In Clark's room," she announced.

Lana glanced at her, then at Lois as she disappeared into the building.

"Well, now that is very interesting!"

XXXXX

"So Clark, why don't you wanna tell us what you did all summer, huh?" Jimmy asked.

"Nothing. Just hung out at the lake."

"How was the action, bro? Flipping?"

"Oh yeah, man," he smirked at Lucas. "It was flipping."

"So, come on, man," Whit said. "Tell me more."

"Nothin' to tell," he said. "Met a chick."

"Yeah, what was she like?" Jimmy asked.

"Yeah, was she ..." Lucas made a shape in the air which Clark supposed was meant to be a curvy girl.

"Oof, she was ... well, this girl made even a sexpot like Marilyn look like a skag."

"Did she put out?" Whit asked.

Clark sent his friend a withering look.

"Is everything about sex with you?"

"Freakin' A!"

"So you still seeing this chick or what?" Lucas asked.

"Nah. She's gone."

"What do you mean, gone?" Jimmy asked.

"She split. Her old man moved to Germany."

"Oh man, that stinks," Whit told him, a sympathetic expression on his face.

Clark shrugged. "Plenty more where she came from, right?"

"Yeah. So, you and Lana ..."

"Hey man, no way am I digging up ancient history," he told the blonde. "You want her, you can have her."

As the bell rang for them to head to their next class, Clark found himself walking behind his friends. No matter how much he tried to sugar-coat it, it had hurt when he'd said goodbye to Lois for the last time. No girl had ever matched up to Lois Lane and no one ever would. He was sure of it.

He wondered what she was doing now. Whether she had settled in to her new school in Germany. Whether she was thinking of him as much as he was thinking of her.

XXXXX

Lois leaned against her locker, sighing, clutching her books in her arm. She couldn't help thinking of Clark and what he was doing now. Was he thinking of her? Would they even meet at this school? It was a small town high school after all. They had to run into each other eventually.

Sighing again, Lois glanced at her schedule and began walking to her next class.


	3. Chapter 2

The pep rally was in full swing by the time Lois finished her chores at the farm and got back to school. Jonathan and Martha were great, if a little over-protective, and Jonathan hadn't wanted her going alone. She'd lied and told him she was going with Chloe. It wasn't strictly a lie. Chloe was going to meet her somewhere at school.

She'd been at Smallville High for a week and hadn't seen Clark. She supposed he hung out with the 'cooler' kids and she was still considered an outsider by a lot of the cliques. That didn't stop boys like Kenickie hitting on her, which didn't win her any favours with some of the girls in her set. She supposed they thought Kenickie was their property.

It didn't seem to matter that she didn't even like the boy. He wasn't exactly the brightest of guys and he was at least three years older, having clearly been left back a few times.

Lois wandered around, watching the crowd gathering around the bonfire Coach Teague had lit. The coach was kind of cute, for an older guy, although he wasn't that much older than her by the look of him.

Sighing, Lois turned as Mandy and the other cheerleaders began their chants. Mandy had caught her in the hallway a couple of days earlier and implied that Lois was a loser if she didn't join the cheerleading squad. Like she wanted to be part of the pom-pom parade, she thought with a snort. All she wanted to do was keep her head down, do the work and get out of this town as quickly as humanly possible.

And hopefully see Clark.

XXXXX

"Lana, I'm not so sure about this," Chloe said.

"You chickening out on me?" Lana asked, her brown eyes wide. Chloe often wondered how Lana could look so innocent, yet be so scheming.

"She's my cousin."

"And she's been playing in my sandbox," Lana told her.

"I thought you said you and Clark were ancient history?" Tess asked, glaring at Lana.

"Doesn't mean I like the idea of some goody-two shoes chick taking what's mine!"

Chloe still wasn't happy about it. Lana had convinced Whit to talk Clark into meeting them at the pep rally and Chloe had had to talk Lois into going as well. Lana knew that engineering a meeting between them, especially with Clark's gang around, wouldn't end well.

Chloe had tried to talk to her cousin about Clark, but Lois had only seen him with rose-tinted glasses. She seemed convinced that the Clark she had met was the genuine article and didn't care that Clark had a certain reputation to uphold in the school. After all, he was a Luthor, and no general's daughter was going to change that. No matter how tough Lois thought she was.

The problem with Lana was she had been spoiled by her aunt. Nell Potter had spent years trying to make up for the fact that Lewis and Laura Lang, Lana's parents, had died right in front of her when the town had been hit by a massive meteor shower. The Langs hadn't been the only people to die in the shower, but theirs had been the most tragic for their three-year-old daughter.

Lana's aunt, who had been Laura's sister, had taken the young girl in. Since Nell had inherited quite a bit of land from not only her sister and the Lang estate, but also from the Potter side of the family, Lana had wanted for nothing. That also meant she thought she could have whatever she wanted, and she didn't like to share. Anyone who landed on her radar that Lana didn't like would be in serious trouble.

Lana's dislike of Lois had been fairly obvious. Finding out that Lois had been dating Clark over the summer just made her a bad enemy.

XXXXX

Clark pushed his way through the crowd, ignoring the admiring looks from the girls watching him swagger away. His black t-shirt fit his muscular torso tightly, showing off well-formed pecs and flat stomach. Black jeans completed the look.

"Yo, bro!"

Clark rolled his eyes. When would Lucas come up with something original, he thought. It was like Lucas was a Dad or Lex-clone. Clark couldn't remember the last time Lucas had ever had a thought of his own.

"Luc," he said, swaggering over to where his brother sat with Jimmy and another guy who hung out with them sometimes. The three boys had been making fun of the cheerleading squad, mocking their moves and generally making nuisances of themselves.

"What are we doing here?" Clark complained. "I've got better things to do than hang out watching these losers."

"Aw come on, man," Kenickie said. "You think you're better than us?"

I am better than you, Clark thought, then realised how it sounded in his head. Lionel had taught him to think he was better than others, but Clark would have given anything to be normal. To not be under Lionel's thumb.

"I just got better things to do," he said instead.

Kenickie lit a cigarette and took a puff, offering it to the others. Lucas took a drag, but Jimmy refused.

Clark often wondered why Jimmy hung around with them. He'd moved from back East about two years earlier. His old man had been in Korea, but had come back a drunk and Jimmy had to take care of his little brother. Jimmy was a good guy, really, just too easily led astray by the others. He just wanted to fit in, since his life at home wasn't so great.

"You know Lex'll kill you if he catches you smoking," Clark told his brother.

Lucas snorted. "Chrome Dome won't find out. Even if he does, he won't care," he added, taking another drag.

Clark turned away from them, hearing the sound of what he hoped was a car backfiring. He stared as a white rust-bucket pulled up. Whitney got out and slid across the hood to grin at them.

"Whaddya think?"

"What do I think?" Clark snickered. "What a hunk of junk!"

Whitney looked hurt. "Man, I worked all summer for this."

"I think it's great," Jimmy said. "I bet we could get old Murdock to sign off on this for a project for shop class."

Whitney brightened. "You think so?"

"Yeah," Clark agreed. "Why not?"

It would take a miracle, but if they scrounged for parts, they might just be able to pull it off.

"You think maybe we could race her at Thunder Road?" Whitney hinted. "Jason's supposed to be racing out there."

Jason Dante was a senior at Granville High. He'd been expelled from Smallville High and Granville had taken him on. He had a reputation for getting into fights and some of the kids believed he had even killed someone, although the sheriff had never been able to prove it. Jason now led a gang called the Scorpions at his high school. If there was one guy Clark didn't trust it was Jason. The boy wasn't just tough, he was psychotic. There were times when Clark had wondered if Jason was one of those who had been exposed to the meteor rocks.

If there was one thing he hated about Smallville, it was the prevalence of the meteor rocks. His father had told him when they'd first moved in with Lex that it was for his own good, despite knowing that the meteor rocks made him sick. Lionel had been experimenting for years with the green rocks and when Clark was twelve, he'd gone into the lab where his father's scientists were working only to collapse in horrific pain.

When Clark had discovered more rocks around Smallville, he'd learned that Lionel had known about it. Dismayed, he'd asked his father why.

"You're a Luthor, son. It's time you acted like it."

What did that mean, anyway? he thought. He supposed it was all some kind of test of his mettle. Well, if being a Luthor meant acting like a jerk all the time, like Lex or Lucas, Clark wanted no part of it. He would keep up the facade, but as soon as he graduated he was out of here and he wasn't looking back. He was going to live his own life. Screw Lionel, and Lex.

Clark was snapped out of his thoughts by Whitney and Lucas shouting threats at another car. Jason, he thought.

"What are Scorpions doing here?" Jimmy asked, sounding a little fearful. Clark put a hand on his friend's shoulder, trying to reassure him. Jimmy smiled and nodded.

When Jimmy had first arrived at Smallville High, Lucas had decided he would be an easy target, but Clark had seen something in the kid and had taken him under his wing. His brother hadn't liked it at first, until Jimmy had boosted a car. Lucas might be Lionel's son, but he wasn't above taking favours, especially from someone as eager to please as Jimmy. There were times when Jimmy seemed to act like an overgrown puppy, but Clark liked him anyway.

"Think they wanna rumble?" Lucas asked, eager to get at the other gang. Jason was grinning from his car, a juiced-up Thunderbird. He sent the T-Birds a one-finger salute and gunned his engine.

"Let 'em go," Clark ordered. He was in no mood to be starting a fight, not tonight.

XXXXX

Lois felt herself being watched. She turned, trying to look casual as she tried to find the culprit and saw one of the football jocks watching her while Coach Quigley gave his speech about the upcoming year for the Crows.

"Hi," he mouthed, flirting with his eyes. He was ... sort of cute.

Lois touched the locket around her neck. She still wanted to see Clark. She wanted to know if the boy she had fallen for at the lake was the real deal. She knew what Chloe had tried to tell her. She understood Clark had a reputation at the school, but she still needed to know, to see for herself if what had happened between them had been real or it had been just a game to him.

The jock continued to flirt with her and Lois just smiled back at him, not wanting to be too encouraging. The crowd roared as the coach rounded off his speech with the school song. Lois rolled her eyes, refusing to join in. The jock was still watching her and laughed at her reaction.

Someone tapped her on the shoulder and she looked around, brightening.

"Chloe!" Chloe's friends were standing behind her, grinning. "Hi girls. What's up?"

Lana smiled and linked arms with her.

"We got a little surprise for you," she said.

Lois frowned. Lana seemed friendly, but Lois didn't like her tone. It felt like Lana was planning something evil. She could see Chloe was looking dubious, which made her worry a little more. Still, she walked with Lana, ignoring the feelings of trepidation.

Lana led her over to the bleachers where she could see Kenickie sitting with three other guys; one a blonde, another a brunet with almost hooded eyes and the third with what appeared to be brown hair, although she couldn't tell much in the darkness. A fourth boy was standing over them, his foot up on one of the planks. He was tall, with broad shoulders, wearing a black t-shirt that showed impressive muscles in the back.

It was a form that looked very familiar to her.

"Hey!" Lana called out.

The boy turned and Lois' mouth dropped open in shock. Clark! She broke out in a grin.

"Clark!"

His eyes widened as he realised. "Lois! I thought you were going to Germany with your dad?"

"Yeah, well he decided I would be better off here."

"I can't believe it!" he said, fighting a grin. He seemed so happy to see her that it warmed Lois' heart. "I mean ..." His eyes flicked to the boys behind him and he straightened, swaggering a little. "Hey, that's cool, baby," he said.

What just happened, Lois thought.

"Clark?"

"That's my name, don't wear it out."

"What happened to the Clark I met at the lake?" she asked, feeling her heart breaking. It seemed like the Clark she had met was a lie after all.

"Well, maybe you met my evil twin, huh?" he said. "Tell you what, let me make it up to you."

He grabbed her and kissed her hard. Lois struggled in his arms, not liking this at all. She pulled away and slapped him across the cheek. He put a hand up to his face, his eyes glittering as he looked at her.

"You ... you ..." she spluttered, then stalked off.

Chloe quickly noticed the way Clark's face fell and the pain in his eyes as he watched Lois' retreating back. He was clearly putting on an act for his friends. The question was, why? Did he actually have feelings for Lois?

She watched her cousin rip the locket from around her neck and throw it on the ground as she stalked off. Tess saw it and picked it up, glancing around before putting it in her pocket. She saw Chloe watching and sent her a look, as if daring her to say something. Chloe wasn't the only one who had been watching however.

XXXXX

Clark ignored his friends for the rest of the night. He knew he'd hurt her, but he hadn't known what else to do. His friends, not to mention his brother, would have ripped her to shreds. If he hadn't kept up the act he wouldn't have been able to protect her from them.

He sighed, kicking at a rock on the side of the road as he walked home. Lucas had decided to go out with Kenickie and try to get hold of some beers, so Clark didn't expect him back at the mansion. He would just have to let her go, he thought, even if it hurt. Maybe when he graduated high school and could leave this rotten town he could look her up and they could start over.

Clark was damn sure Lana had had something to do with what had happened. Despite the fact the break-up had been mutual, she still thought she could wrap him around her little finger. Like all she had to do was flutter her eyelashes at him and he would drop down on his knees in worship. Clark had woken up from that mistake a long time ago and there was no way he was going to let history repeat itself.

Lex was clearly out for the evening when Clark finally arrived home. As he trudged wearily up the stairs, his mind still on what had happened with Lois, he almost didn't notice the band of light under Tess' door. Clearly she'd made it home before him.

He knew she'd picked up the locket he'd given Lois, and there was no way he was going to let her keep it.  
Without knocking, he burst into the room. Tess was in the middle of undressing for bed. She turned, mouth open in shock, holding a robe in front of her slender body.

"Clark! What are you doing in my room? Don't you knock?"

"Where is it, Tess?" he growled at his sister.

"Where's what?"

"Don't play dumb with me! I want it back!"

She smirked at him. "Finders keepers," she chanted.

"Give it back to me!" he snarled, still keeping his voice low. Clark rarely shouted when he lost his temper. His tone was always dangerously low so his enemies always under-estimated him.

"It wasn't yours," Tess returned. "And clearly your little girlfriend didn't want it either."

"It was a gift," he told her. "You have no right to it. Now give it back!"

Tess bit her lip, looking thoughtful.

"Please!" Clark said, unable to keep the lump out of his throat.

Tess' eyes widened. Luthors never said please. Clark never had to.

"You really liked her, didn't you?" she said softly.

Clark looked away from the redhead, refusing to say anything. Tess took his silence as assent. She nodded in understanding, then went to the drawer in her closet, taking a small bundle, wrapped in a silk cloth, then handed it to him.

"Clark, for what it's worth, I always thought Lana was all wrong for you anyway," she said. "I watched you, you know, when you came home from taking her out. Lois, I mean. For the first time in I don't know when, you seemed actually happy. I was glad."

Clark looked down at the bundle in his hand, then up at his sister.

"Um, thanks," he said, his anger deflating.

"Well, I might hang with Lana but I'm still your sister. I think you should tell Lois the truth. About everything."


	4. Chapter 3

Chloe headed over to the farm the next afternoon. Martha Kent was baking in the kitchen, along with the Kents' twelve-year-old adopted daughter Hannah. The girl had spent most of her summer at camp.

"Hello Chloe," Martha said warily. "Are you here to see Lois?"

"Yeah, is she around?"

"She was cleaning out some of the stalls in the barn. She came home very upset last night."

"Yeah, I know. That's why I came over."

"Well, I hope you're not planning to get up to anything," Martha warned. "Don't go leading Lois astray."

"I wouldn't do that, Mrs Kent," Chloe told her.

The redhead just gave her a look, then turned to her daughter. Hannah was blonde, although not as golden blonde as Jonathan, and still at the age when hanging with her mom was still reasonably cool. Martha helped Hannah mix something in the bowl, guiding her hand.

"Uh, well I'm gonna go to the barn and see if she's there," Chloe said, feeling a little uncomfortable. Okay, so she had a little bit of a reputation around town, but that didn't make her a bad person.

The problem was, Chloe felt stifled in the town. She wanted to be more than just a housewife, even though she knew that was going to be pretty much all she wrote. She lived in a world where men were considered the breadwinners and the women stayed at home and cleaned the house and had babies. Chloe wasn't even sure she wanted kids.

Chloe's mom had left when she was eight, for God only knew what reason. That had left her dad, Gabe, trying to hold down a job and look after her at the same time. He'd been a hopeless cook and Chloe wasn't much better, but by the time she was ten, she was cooking meals and doing most of the housekeeping. She understood her father had to work and he was too tired to do the chores when he got home, but she wanted more than that for her life.

She left the house and entered the barn.

"Lo? You in here?"

There were footsteps on wooden boards overhead and she looked up to see her cousin standing in the loft, leaning over the railing and looking down at her.

"Hey Chlo. Come on up."

Lois looked miserable. Chloe went up the stairs and paused at the top. Lois had flopped down on a ratty old sofa.

"You okay?"

"No," Lois told her, sounding as if she'd been crying.

"I'm sorry. I tried to talk Lana out of it, but ..."

Lois looked at her incredulously. "You were in on it? Chloe, how could you?"

"Look, you have to understand something about Lana. She ..."

"I don't care about Lana! I'm talking about you, Chloe! You're my cousin. How could you let me be humiliated like that?"

"I didn't know what was going to happen, Lois, I swear to you ..."

"It doesn't matter anyway. Clark is a liar and a fake and I don't want to see him ever again!"

Chloe sighed and shook her head. Clark was a liar, but she didn't think the lie was the guy Lois had met at the lake. Maybe Clark did keep a lot of himself hidden, especially around the T-Birds, or more to the point, his brother, but she had seen the look in his eyes when Lois had walked away.

"Why don't you come over tonight? Tess and Lana are coming over with a couple of other girls and we're having a sleepover."

"Lana ..."

"...is my friend. Look, I know what we did was stupid, but I just think if you got to know Lana, you'd like her. Tess too."

"Isn't Tess Clark's sister?" Lois asked. "Why would I want to get to know somebody who's related to him?"

"She's not his sister by blood. Clark's adopted."

"I know," Lois said. "It's not the point."

"Well, you can't stay here moping. Come on, it'll be fun."

"I don't know," Lois said doubtfully.

"Please?" Chloe said, practically batting her eyelashes at her cousin. Lois looked at her and laughed.

"You know that tactic didn't work when you were ten and it's not going to work now."

Chloe stuck out her bottom lip, making Lois laugh even harder. She nudged her cousin in the ribs until Lois finally gave in and tackled her. The two girls giggled as they launched into a tickle fight.

Their giggles attracted the attention of the blonde farmer who came up the stairs.

"What's so funny?" Jonathan asked.

"Nothing," Lois said, glancing at her cousin and snickering.

"Well, Martha has some fresh-baked cookies in the house if you want some."

Chloe grinned and took her cousin's hand. They raced down the stairs and to the house where they could smell the delicious aroma of cookies just out of the oven. Hannah grinned at them as they came in.

"Told you they'd be in as soon as they smelled the cookies, Mom," she said.

Lois smiled at Hannah as she sat down at the table with Chloe and took an oatmeal-raising cookie from the plate. It was still warm.

"Chloe's having a sleepover tonight," she said, as Jonathan came in. "Can I go?"

Martha looked dubious. "I don't know."

"It's not a school night," Lois told her. "We're probably just going to sit and gossip all night."

Martha looked at her with a frown, her expression suggesting she knew exactly what the girls would get up to.

Lois didn't understand what her cousin had done that was so bad. Sure, Chloe hung out with girls like Lana and Tess, who were so spoiled they thought they could get away with anything, but Chloe's only real crime was that she hadn't been born in Smallville. She and Uncle Gabe had moved to the town when Chloe was in eighth grade, so Gabe could take up a job managing the Luthorcorp plant.

She supposed that was the point; Chloe wasn't a Smallville native. The town was very closed-off in that respect. Still, Martha had also been born in Metropolis and that should have made her more understanding of Chloe's situation. It had taken the redhead a long time to gain the respect of the rest of the community, although from what Lois had heard, the Kents had kept pretty much to themselves for the first few years, until Hannah had come into their lives. There had been a rumour of another child, before Hannah, but since Martha and Jonathan never spoke of the subject, Lois thought it was just a story.

"Please Mrs K," she said, looking at Martha.

"All right," the older woman said, relenting. "But I want you back here by mid-morning so you can do your chores."

That was all Lois needed. She got up and kissed the older woman on the cheek.

"Thank you," she said.

Chloe took her hand and they both went upstairs to her bedroom to grab some things, then left for Chloe's house. Gabe Sullivan greeted Lois with a hug.

"It's good to see you, Lo. I'm always saying Chloe needs better friends to hang out with."

"Daddy, they're not that bad."

He shrugged. "Oh well, who am I to judge?"

Lois followed her cousin to her room and sprawled on the bed.

"So what do you want to do?" she asked.

"The girls'll be here soon. I thought we could give each other manicures and stuff. Make some popcorn."

Lois looked at her cousin. Chloe's room was untidy but not too bad. She had a lot of beauty stuff like wigs and manicure sets. Lois picked up an emery board and began fiddling with it.

"Why do you have all this stuff?"

Chloe shrugged. "I don't know. I was thinking maybe about going to beauty school."

"You mean dropping out of high school? Chloe!"

"I don't know," she repeated. "I mean, anything's gotta be better than marrying some loser who just wants to keep me barefoot and pregnant."

"Is that really how you see yourself?"

"Oh come on, Lo, you know how it is. I mean, I'm not as pretty as you or Lana. Or even Tess. I'm the 'smart' one. The thing is, it doesn't matter how smart I am, I will never get what guys have."

"You once told me you wanted to be a writer when you grew up. A famous reporter like Nellie Bly."

Nellie Bly had been famous for a lot of things, but she had been most famous for going undercover at an insane asylum to write an expose on the conditions there. Chloe had always wanted to be the kind of reporter she thought Nellie had been, but as far as she could see, newspaper reporting was a man's world.

"Clark told me he wanted to be a reporter," Lois said, gazing down at the bed beneath her. "I don't know what I want to be." She frowned at something her cousin had said. "Besides, who says you're not as pretty as me? You're gorgeous!"

Chloe shook her head stubbornly. "No, I'm not."

"Don't sell yourself short," Lois told her. "And I know you'll meet the right guy some day. Someone who appreciates you for all that you are; I mean your brains and your looks." She sighed. "I thought I found that in Clark, then he goes and turns out to be the biggest jerk on the face of the planet."

No matter how much she tried to deny it, she still liked him. She was just so confused.

The other girls arrived a short time later. Lana sent her a look, but said nothing. Tess, however, hugged her. Lois had first thought Tess was just like Lana, but she couldn't have been more wrong about the redhead. The two other girls staying for the sleepover were a girl named Frenchy and another girl named Janice, although she liked to be called Jan.

Frenchy, it seemed, had got her nickname because she knew how to French inhale when she smoked. Lois had tried a cigarette once, but hadn't liked it.

Frenchy and Jan both shared a cigarette, but Tess and Lana refused.

"I go home stinking of smoke, Nell would slaughter me," Lana said. Chloe shook her head when Frenchy offered her one. Lois was relieved to discover she wasn't the only one.

After dinner, the girls lounged in pyjamas, sprawled either on the floor or on the big double bed, eating popcorn and talking about trivial things that didn't seem to matter to anyone but them. The other girls, who hadn't met Lois before, wanted to know more about her.

"So how come you're in Smallville?" Jan asked.

"My dad got transferred to Germany," she told the other girl.

"Transferred?" Jan frowned, puzzled.

"He's a general in the army."

"Ooh, do you think he'll get to meet Elvis?" Frenchy asked.

Tess groaned and rolled her eyes, then winked at Lois, who just grinned back. Lana had been sprawling on her stomach, but sat up.

"Guess what I managed to swipe from Nell's cabinet," she said, pulling out a bottle. "Who wants some sneaky Pete?"

"Ooh, me, me," the other girls clamoured, sharing the bottle. Lana watched, her brown eyes on Lois.

"Hey, don't forget Lois," she said, nudging Tess, who just sighed and started to hand the bottle over. Lois shook her head.

"No thanks."

"What? You don't smoke, or drink? That it?"

Lois wasn't going to tell the other girl that she could drink them under the table if she really wanted to. Growing up an army brat really opened her up to a world of experience. Truth be told, she preferred beer more than anything else.

"Don't be such a fuddy duddy," Lana said.

Lois ignored her and got up, going into Chloe's bathroom to brush her teeth. While she was there, she heard Lana mocking her. Lois was annoyed. Just because she preferred not to smoke and didn't want to drink wine with them, it did not make her a goody-two-shoes. It was none of their business why she didn't want to do any of that.

Lois' mother, Ella, died when Lois was six. She had been sick for some time and even at six years old, Lois had not been ignorant to her mother's wasting away. Since then, she had had to grow up and be 'mother' to her little sister, Lucy, who was now in a boarding school in Europe. Lois had often wondered why her father had chosen to send Lucy away, but had kept Lois with him. She loved her father, but there were times when she didn't know if he loved her back.

Sometimes she hated her life, she sighed.

XXXXXXX

Clark had spent half the evening driving around with Whitney, Lucas and Jimmy in the hunk of metal Whitney called a car. Clark didn't want to tell his friend the car really was a piece of crap and he'd been conned. Still, Whitney had worked all summer for it and Clark wasn't going to ride his friend for it.

Lucas had pulled the old five finger discount at the liquor store, swiping a bottle of whisky while the old man had been distracted by Jimmy and Whitney having a pretend sword fight with some liquorice sticks and was already on the way to being loaded.

It pissed him off that Lucas was more interested in getting drunk and boosting cars than actually knuckling down and doing some work. He understood where Whitney was coming from. Whit's father had died of heart problems when Clark had been a freshman and he'd lost his chance at a football scholarship. George Fordman had been a decorated war hero. He'd been stationed at Pearl Harbour, but had been home on furlough when the attack had happened. Still, when he died, Whitney had just seemed to curl up on himself and withdraw from the world. He'd started getting into fights, stealing and finally he'd dropped out of high school for a few months. He'd returned to finish out his junior year with a bad attitude

The only thing that kept him going was his friendship with Clark. For some reason, the two young men had made a connection. Still, it frustrated Clark no end that Whit didn't seem to have any ambition.

Right now, Whitney was driving down the street toward Chloe's house, prepared to crash the sleepover party. Clark wondered if Chloe had told Whit on purpose, knowing he had a crush on Lana.

They'd argued about that particular subject right before they'd decided to go cruising. Or rather, before Whit had decided.

"Look, I'm telling you man, it's over between me and Lana."

"Yeah, well maybe she doesn't think so." Whitney looked at him curiously. "So what's with you and that Lois chick?"

"Nothing."

"Yeah, well, like the man said, 'you protest too much'."

Clark sighed and shook his head. That was the point with Whit. He could act so dumb but he knew stuff like Shakespeare, which was hard enough even for Clark, who easily got straight As and had a 4.0 grade point average. Subjects like maths came easy for him, but English he had to work at because while he could speed read, it didn't mean he actually understood what it was about.

"I just ... I like her," Clark had said, dragging his foot along the ground. "I mean, like her, like her."

"So what're you going to do?"

"I dunno," he shrugged. "Luc and the guys would eat her alive if they knew."

"Yeah, I guess it's the same with me and Lana. It's just ... I don't know. I mean, after you, she'd probably think I'm sloppy seconds."

"No way you'd be sloppy seconds. You're a good guy, Whit, when you don't act like a total greaseball. Besides, there's a lot of stuff about Lana and me that you don't know."

"Like what?" Whitney asked, looking curious.

Clark had been going to tell him that he had never gone all the way with Lana and hadn't intended to. Part of it was because of his abilities, he supposed. Still, Lana hadn't objected to it either. In spite of her 'tough girl' look and attitude, Lana deep down was a girl who was just as frustrated with her life as he was and she thought that going 'all the way' with a guy meant she was tied to him. Nell had married a guy right out of high school because the guy she really wanted had fallen for another girl. She'd barely been married long enough to regret it as he'd gone off to fight in the war and hadn't come home.

Nell had been pushing the two of them together ever since Lionel had moved them to Smallville. She was more interested in what the Luthor millions could do for her and Lana - mostly her - and she thought Lana and Clark would be a good match. Lana, on the other hand, saw Clark as her salvation; her way of escape from Smallville. She liked Whit, but not enough to see past the fact that his family wasn't as rich or as influential as the Luthors.

So Lana hid her frustration behind a facade of bitchiness and spoiled brat attitude. Sure, she got a little territorial too sometimes, but that was mostly because she liked all the attention.

"Hey, hey, look it's Lana!"

"What's she gonna do?" Jimmy asked. "Shimmy down the drainpipe?"

Whitney started forward, seeming concerned that Lana might fall, but she just hung on to the trellis and climbed down with ease. The three boys surrounded her, while Clark stood back.

"What's up, doc?" Lana said. Clark ignored her.

"Hey Clark, where you going?" Jimmy asked.

"Dunno. Someplace that's not here."

"You ditching us?" Lucas asked.

"What of it, bro?" Clark asked, glaring pointedly at Lucas. He was too depressed to put up with their crap. He looked apologetically at Whitney. "See ya."

"Yeah, later alligator."

XXXXXXX

Lois sat down on the floor, watching as Tess took out a journal. She sighed. Chloe was gossiping with the other two girls, seeming unconcerned at the way Lana had left.

She wasn't the first girl to cry over a boy and certainly wasn't the first to experience heartbreak, but it still felt like her world had ended. She knew she would run into Clark again and wouldn't be able to avoid the fact that she still cared about him. She would never get over him, she decided. She sighed again.

"God, you sound like a steam locomotive," Tess complained, looking up from what she was writing. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," she said.

Tess' green eyes peered at her.

"Uh-huh. Look, Clark's my brother and he can be a jerk sometimes, but ..."

"It's just that, it's confusing, you know? I mean, he was so different this summer. He was so nice to me."

Tess shook her head. "Yeah, guys can be jerks one minute, nice the next, 'specially if all they wanna do is get in your pants. I've been seeing this one guy. Oliver. He's cute and everything, but ... you know, he's over in Germany now. I think he might even be on the same base as Elvis."

"Elvis, really?"

Tess giggled. "Nah, not really. We wrote a lot over the summer and, you know, I guess we'll still be writing. It's just he's ... well, I know it's not gonna go anywhere, but it's fun, you know?" She looked her over. "So you and Clark, did you, um, do it?"

Lois frowned. "No. Were we supposed to?"

"Huh!" Tess said, licking her upper lip. "I would have thought he would, but hey, what do I know? I'm just his sister."

"What's it like? Growing up in that house? Clark told me it's kinda big and you know, a little creepy."

"Yeah. Our dad sent us all down here so we'd stay out of trouble, but Luc, he's always in trouble. And Lex ..."

"Is it true he's bald? I mean, I've never seen him, but Chloe's dad ..."

"Yeah, it's true. He got sick after the meteor shower and Dad said that was how Lex lost all his hair. Anyway, Lex got into a lot of trouble when he was our age and that's why Dad sent him down to take care of the plant. He was supposed to go serve in the army, but Dad bribed a senator or something."

"Really?" Lois said, interested in spite of herself. "You can do that?"

Tess smirked. "When you're rich, you can do anything you want. It's like he's always saying: 'When you're rich, you're not crazy, you're eccentric'."

"I've seen pictures of your dad. He does look kind of crazy with all that hair."

Tess giggled and Lois found herself joining in. Tess wasn't so bad, she thought. She was actually kind of nice.

"Look, I know Clark acted like a jerk yesterday, but he's a good guy, really. It's just ... complicated."

Lois nodded. She could see where it could get complicated, but she didn't want complicated. She wanted the Clark she'd met at the lake, but she knew in her head that as long as he hung with his crowd, it just wasn't ever going to happen.


	5. Chapter 4

Clark swaggered through the school halls, ignoring the whistles from the chicks. It seemed like every girl in school wanted to get with him, but he wasn't interested in any of them. All he wanted to do was talk to Lois and try and make it up to her.

Whitney grabbed his arm.

"I need your help with something," he said.

Clark frowned at his friend. "For what?"

"Come on."

Clark followed him to the workshop where his hunk of ... car was sitting waiting for repairs. Clark saw a large dent in the bumper.

"What happened?"

"I was parking with Lana," Whitney admitted. "Out at Pine Ridge."

"You were parking with ..."

Whitney slapped a hand over his mouth. "Geez, not so loud man! I thought you didn't care about Lana?"

"I don't. I just didn't think Lana would ..."

"Nothing happened, okay? I mean, we just made out a little. No big. Just don't spread it around though, huh? You know what it could do for my reputation if the chicks found out I parked with a girl and didn't, you know, park?"

"Yeah, yeah I get it. Anyway, go on."

"Well, yeah, as I said, we were in the back, making out, and this car comes out of nowhere and backs right into us. Well, we got up and looked and it was Dante."

"Jason Dante? What was he doing up on Pine Ridge?"

"I dunno," Whitney shrugged. "He had some slag with him. I think she goes to St Mary's."

A Catholic school, Clark thought. Some of the girls at those schools had the worst reputations. It was no wonder Dante dated them. Those chicks were not known for keeping their legs crossed.

Whitney sighed. "Man, I spent my whole summer working for this car, and now it's ..."

Clark put a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Look, don't sweat it, okay? We'll get Jimmy and Luc and maybe Kenickie and we'll work on the car. We'll make it good as new. No better than new."

"How? I've got no money."

Clark shook his head. It wasn't like Lionel didn't give him an allowance. He didn't like to brag about how much he actually got, since his monthly stipend from his father was on a par with what Whit's mother would earn in a year working in the shop. Unlike Lex, and Luc, Clark didn't spend his allowance on frivolous things. He was saving so he could get away from his father, live his own life.

Still, this was important to Whit, and Clark wasn't about to abandon his friend in his time of need.

"Look, we can probably pick up a good engine at the junkyard, do a little work and recondition it. I bet I can work those dents out." He started to circle the car. "Sure, there's a little rust, but we can fix that too. I bet if we all pitch in, we can make this car one bi*chin' machine."

"Hell yeah, it'll be a real chick magnet," Whitney said. "Sure would impress the hell out of Lana."

Clark doubted that. It took a lot to impress Lana, but he didn't voice his opinion, knowing it wasn't something Whitney needed to hear.

"And hey," Whit continued, "maybe we can race it out by Thunder Road. Sure would show Dante a thing or two."

"You know, Jason races for pinks, and I've heard he's got some new tricks."

"Like what?"

"Dunno. Just that he's using some kind of booster in the fuel. You really don't want to race Dante."

"Well, couldn't we, I don't know, use the same booster?"

Clark shook his head. "Look, let's just see what we can do to get this car running like Greased Lightning okay? Then we can worry about beating Dante."

He continued to tour around the car, checking under the hood, kicking the tyres. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't great either.

Lucas and Jimmy weren't so optimistic.

"This hunk of junk is never going to ..." Lucas said.

Clark grabbed him by the collar.

"And what do you drive, huh? That you haven't boosted."

"You know the old man would never let me near any of the fancy cars Lex drives," Lucas said in protest. Clark dropped him and Lucas shook himself off, turning to Whitney. "Hey, Whit, I didn't mean anything by it. I'm willing to help do whatever."

Whitney nodded. "Thanks man."

"Let's get to work guys," Clark said. It was going to be a long week.

XXXXXXX

Lois carried her books in her arms as she walked along the hallway with Chloe and Tess.

"You still thinking about dropping out?" she asked her cousin. Tess turned and looked at Chloe.

"You're dropping out?" she asked in astonishment.

Chloe looked a little uncomfortable.

"Well, yeah, I mean, I can't hang around here forever, you know? it's not like my dad can afford to send me to college and, well, I don't have a chance of making it as a newspaper reporter."

"You don't know if you don't try," Lois said.

"Hey, why don't I talk to my dad?" Tess suggested. "He knows this guy over at the Inquisitor. Roger somebody. I bet he could get you a job."

Chloe shook her head.

"No offence, Tess, but I don't want to owe the Luthors anything. Especially your dad."

"None taken," the redhead told her, "but if you change your mind ..."

"Chlo, why don't you submit some of your stuff? I saw that article you wrote for the school paper. I mean, don't listen to that old hag principal. You're a good writer. No, not a good writer. A great writer." Chloe had told her that the principal had not been encouraging when her cousin had told her what she wanted to do with her life. She had refused to let Chloe have a position on the school paper.

Tess nodded. "Lois is right. I mean, there's that piece you wrote about the whole scarecrow thing back in freshman year."

"You mean the one where they made Clark the scarecrow? I remember your dad was so angry he marched into the principal's office and demanded to know the names of every student involved."

Lois frowned at her cousin. "What's this about Clark?"

"Well, Clark wasn't always Mr Popular," Chloe told her. "He was kind of quiet his first year and, well, everyone sort of hated the Luthors. Lionel kind of owns this town on account of the plant that my dad manages, or assistant manages or something. I mean, that's why Lex moved here, so he could oversee the plant or something."

"Why would they make Clark the scarecrow?" Lois asked.

"It's called hazing," Tess told her. "Anyway, after Dad came down to the school, he gave Clark this lecture about making people respect you and that's sort of when Clark began hanging with the bad crowd, if you know what I mean."

Lois knew all about hazing. Having lived on a few army bases with her father, she had seen some of the new recruits being made to scrub floors with toothbrushes and any number of things the old hats did to the rookies.

"So he didn't always act like ..."

"Sometimes I think the only reason he acts the way he does is so he can protect guys like Jimmy," Chloe said, sighing softly.

Tess grinned at Lois. "Chloe's sort of sweet on Jimmy."

"Am not," the blonde answered.

"Are too."

"Am not!"

"Are too times ten."

Lois bit her lip, her thoughts drifting as the girls bantered back and forth. She knew Clark had been putting on an act, and now she knew for sure that the real Clark was the guy she had met at the lake. If only he could see that there was a way to still be that guy yet also be respected around school. She sighed. Clark would probably never see it.

They stopped at the lockers to put their books away so they could go to lunch. Lana was eating with Whitney somewhere else on campus. It had spread like wildfire around school that Lana and Whitney were a thing now, although they weren't officially going steady.

"Uh, Lois?"

She looked around, frowning, then stared at the young man she recognised from the pep rally a couple of weeks earlier. The football jock.

"Oh, hi Mark," she said.

He leaned with one hand against the locker, smiling down at her. He was at least five inches taller than her, with broad shoulders. Still not as broad as Clark's she thought, and he was nowhere near as good-looking.

"Uh, Lo, why don't you catch us up," Chloe suggested.

Lois stared after her cousin, realising the other girls were giving her some privacy. Well, she had wanted to find a way to move on from Clark. Maybe now was her chance.

"Uh, so, I was wondering if you'd like to, maybe, go out some time," Mark said.

"Sure, Mark. That would be, um, nice."

XXXXXX

Clark slouched against the wall, watching as Jimmy and Lucas played hoops out on the basketball court. They'd been working for the past two weeks on the car and were in need of a break. He hated to admit it, but Lucas seemed to have a real talent for mechanical things. He'd managed to get the engine Clark had got from an old car in the junkyard running like a dream.

"Not playing?" Whitney said, leaning one shoulder against the wall.

"Nah! Don't really feel like it."

"You're thinking about that chick again, aren't you?" his friend said.

"Yeah, maybe," he admitted.

"You know she's dating that football jock. Mark something."

Clark nodded. "I heard."

In the distance, he could hear the squealing of tyres and looked up. A car rounded the corner, the driver gunning the engine. Jason Dante smirked at him, his stare challenging. The guy was cruisin' for a bruisin' and Clark really wanted to feed him a knuckle sandwich. Trouble was, if he started a fight with Dante, the rest of the Scorpions would want to start a rumble and there was no way he was going to let his friends get in the middle.

One of Dante's friends in the car threw a beer can at them. Clark darted forward, picking up the can and threw it back, using just a little of his super-strength to hit one of the guys in the back of the head. It wasn't a hard enough hit to knock him out, but Clark still got the satisfaction of knowing it would sting a little. The guy turned in his seat, scowling as he rubbed the back of his head and flipped them the bird.

Whitney watched the game for a few minutes, then whistled.

"Hey guys, we're going to the Talon. Coming?"

"Well, not yet," Lucas cracked, bouncing the basketball, then tossing it.

"Jerk!" Clark answered.

They headed into town. All the tables were occupado, Clark thought, sighing inwardly, but that didn't seem to be a problem for Lucas. He ambled over to the booth where Sheldon was sitting with his friends.

"Hey, dickwad, we need this table."

"We were sitting here," Sheldon protested, pushing his glasses up. He had a piece of tape across the bridge of the glasses. They'd clearly been broken at some point.

"Well, now you ain't," Lucas said, tossing the books piled on the table onto the floor. "Get out of here."

Clark rolled his eyes at his brother's attitude.

"Man, you are such a greaseball sometimes," he told him.

Lucas ignored him, lounging against the booth. Whitney slid in beside him, while Clark and Jimmy took the other side. One of the waitresses came over.

"Yeah, whaddya want?"

"Sodas," Whitney ordered.

The girl scowled and stalked away, calling them cheapskates. Whitney shook his head and leaned forward.

"So, I heard from a buddy of mine that the fuzz have been staking out Thunder Road. Guess they've been trying to catch Dante."

Lucas shook his head. "We'd never be able to race there then," he said. "The old man told me if I get locked up again, he ain't gonna bail me out. Neither will Chrome Dome."

"That's cause you're stupid enough to get caught," Clark told him.

"Unlike you?" Lucas snarled.

Clark glanced at his friends briefly. Whitney looked curious.

"Yeah, how is it you never get caught, Clark? I mean, not once."

"Well, I ain't stupid," Clark returned.

He sat back and tuned out as his friends started to argue. He looked around the diner. Lois was at a table in the back, eating what appeared to be an ice cream sundae with the football jock. Clark was hit with a surge of jealousy.

He heard the rustling of a skirt and looked up.

"Well, looks like somebody's got herself a whole new honey," Lana said, smirking. "Guess you weren't 'man' enough for her after all."

"Shut up, Lana."

She raised her eyebrows at him. "What's this? The great Clark Luthor jealous?" she said.

"Cool it, Lana," Whitney said quietly.

Her eyes flashed with anger as she looked at her boyfriend. If there was one thing Clark had learned early on when they'd been dating, it was that Lana didn't like being told what to do. By anyone.

Lucas just smirked.

"Man, chicks. More trouble than they're worth. I swear they're only good for one thing. Of course, then you've gotta listen to them whining for the other twenty three hours and forty five minutes."

Jimmy frowned. "Does it really only take fifteen minutes?" he asked.

"Well," Lucas drawled. "No prizes for guessing which one of us is the virgin here!"

"Climb it, Tarzan!" Jimmy returned, flipping him the bird.

Lucas gave a whoop and pretended to poke Jimmy in the eyes and Jimmy retaliated by standing up and giving Lucas a noogie. Whitney responded to their tomfoolery by giving Lucas a sharp slap on the back of his head and smacking Jimmy over his head. Clark just rolled his eyes, turning to watch Lois talking quietly with the jock.

XXXXXXXX

Lois had seen Clark come in but had tried to stay cool. Still, her heart had skipped a beat when she'd looked up, only to catch his green-eyed gaze turned her way. Lois had returned her attention to Mark, but couldn't help wishing Clark would come over.

She liked Mark. He was a nice guy; uncomplicated. He didn't put on airs or act like a jerk in front of his friends. Still, he wasn't the brightest of guys. The only thing he really had going for him was the football, which was okay, but she wasn't that into jocks.

The music on the jukebox was Raining on Prom Night, which Lois found to be more than a little depressing.

"I'm just gonna go pick some new music," she told Mark, getting up with a coin in her hand. Her date nodded and smiled. Lois walked through the shop, giving the T-Birds' table a wide berth and stood beside the jukebox, looking at the choices.

Her heart skipped again when she felt Clark move in beside her.

"Hi," he said.

"Hello," she said coolly, trying not to let her emotions show.

"How are you?" he asked.

"Fine thanks."

"That's good. Uh, so you're um, dating Mark."

"Uh-huh," she said.

"I guess he's all right, for a meathead jock."

Lois looked up at him. "Meathead?"

"Well, look at him. He's not exactly playing with a full deck is he?"

She sighed and shook her head.

"At least he doesn't pretend to be something he's not. Tell me something, Clark, all that stuff you told me at the lake, was any of that for real or was it just a line to get in my pants?"

"Lois, I wouldn't ... look, you have to understand. It's complicated."

"A complicated thing. I get that. See, that's why I like Mark."

"Why? Because he's simple?"

Lois narrowed her eyes at him, seeing Clark snickering as if he had told the world's most hilarious joke.

"Is this just a joke to you?" she asked.

Clark stopped laughing.

"No, Lois, I ..."

"Why don't you go back to your friends and laugh about all those lies you told me at the lake. Go on, go and tell them how you made me believe you were actually a nice guy and not just some jerk who pretends to like someone just so he can get his kicks."

"It's not like that!" he told her.

"Then how is it, really, Clark? I wanna know."

"I told you, it's complicated. Look, Lois, I'm sorry about that night at the rally. I really am. It just, it wasn't me. I mean it was me, just not the real me. The guy you met at the lake, that was the real me. I swear."

Lois sighed as Clark continued.

"See, I have this image with the guys."

"Yeah, Tess told me about your so-called image. To me, it's just, it's a crock is what it is."

"So you prefer a guy whose brains are in his biceps?"

"At least I know where I stand with a guy like Mark. Besides, what have you ever done? I mean, at least he plays football for the school. You, you spend half your time ditching school to do what? Boost cars? Like that's attractive! You know, if it wasn't for your dad pulling strings for you, you'd probably be in juvie or something. I've heard a lot about you since I started at Smallville High and there's a lot of kids who say you're nothing but a bully who thinks you're better than anyone else because your dad's like the richest guy on the planet."

"Well, that just goes to show they don't know me at all," he said, sounding miffed.

"Then prove it," she challenged, flouncing off, her long ponytail hitting him in the face as she turned away.


	6. Chapter 5

Clark thought about what Lois had said the entire weekend and over the next week as well. He still wasn't exactly sure what she wanted from him. Did she want him to be a jock? Well, he supposed he could easily remedy that, he thought, heading along the hallway to the assistant coach's office.

Jason Teague was studying a diagram which Clark supposed was for football plays.

"Hey Coach," he said.

The dark blonde looked up, frowning.

"Something I can do for you?"

"Uh, yeah, I'm Clark. Luthor."

Jason nodded. "Yeah, you're Lex's little brother."

Clark sat on the edge of the desk, peering curiously at the older man. Lex was about six years older than he was, but he didn't think Jason was around the same age. More like four years older than him.

"You know Lex?"

"Yeah, our families go way back. You didn't know?"

Clark shook his head.

"Lex and I don't talk much."

The young coach nodded. "Yeah, I hear ya. So what can I do for you?"

"Um, well, I was thinking, you know, about maybe getting into some, uh, games."

"You mean, you wanna try out for a team? You know, try-outs finished a couple of weeks ago."

Clark knew his disappointment was showing on his face. The coach seemed to take pity on him.

"Look, why don't we see what you can do and then I can see if I can give you a spot. Whaddya say?"

"Yeah. Sounds good."

"First thing you gotta do is go change into your gym clothes."

Oh! Yeah! He could do that.

"Um, I'll be right back," he said.

Clark went out and made his way down to the locker room. It was empty, fortunately. Clark just didn't want to get into any hassles with any of the jocks. He changed quickly into shorts and a t-shirt and went out to meet the coach in the gym.

There were some jocks playing basketball. Jason stood on the sidelines, arms folded, watching them go through a drill. He looked up, then waved Clark over.

"Guys," he said. "This is Clark."

"Hey man," one jock nodded, looking like he knew him. Clark frowned, thinking the guy was in his English class or something.

"You play?" Jason asked.

"Sure. We fool around. Me and the guys."

"Well, you're not here to fool around. Show me what you got."

The jock from his class threw him the ball and Clark began bouncing it sort of casually. The other guys gathered around him. One feinted left, and another feinted right. Distracted, Clark didn't know which way to turn and another guy grabbed the ball off him, throwing it at the basket to score.

Clark chased the other guys, trying to concentrate on the game while the coach shouted out instructions. He managed to get the ball off one of the other guys and ran down the court. His way was blocked and someone else began yelling, waving his arms. Clark tried to shoulder his way out of the block and threw the ball to the other player, forgetting to rein in his strength. The ball hit the guy in the stomach, sending him flying.

Immediately the other members of the team rushed to his side. The coach ran across the court and pushed the boys aside.

"Give him some room."

Clark gulped. He hadn't meant to throw the ball so hard. He just hadn't been thinking.

The coach looked at him, seeing the stricken expression on his face and stood up.

"Clark, it's okay. He's just winded." He reached up, putting an arm around him. "Maybe basketball isn't your game. Why don't we try something else? Look, the wrestling team is practicing tomorrow. Let's give that a whirl, huh?"

"Yeah. Um, thanks Coach."

Wrestling was a wash-out as well, though, when he realised just how easily he could break someone's arm. Football was better, but there were no spots on the team. Next he tried baseball, but he wasn't watching what he was doing with his strength and ended up hitting the ball so hard it split in two. Jason sighed.

"Maybe sports isn't for you," he said. "What about the school band?"

Clark snorted. The band was for geeks like Sheldon, he thought. It looked like it was back to the drawing board.

Whit and the others hadn't understood why he hadn't been hanging out with them. Clark knew Whitney understood a little; after all, he was going out of his way to patch things up with Lana. They'd had a fight earlier in the week and Lana had once again tried to get back in Clark's good graces. Clark might be a jerk and a bully, well, according to the gospel of Lois Lane and her friends, but he didn't believe in marking another guy's territory. He'd already given Whitney dibs on Lana and there was no way he was taking that back. Whit was about as close to a best friend as he had.

That afternoon, as he walked home, Lucas fell into step beside him.

"Hey, Clark, where've you been?" he asked. "The guys are beginning to think you're avoiding us."

"I don't want to talk about it, Luc."

"You wouldn't be ditching us for some slag, now would you? I mean, sure, we'd understand, I guess. Guy's gotta take care of his needs, ya know? Thing is, if it's a chick like Lois Lane ... I mean, she ain't a skag, but she ain't all that."

Clark rolled his eyes at his brother.

"Why do you have to talk like some cheap hood, huh?"

"Well, I am a hood," Lucas said with a shrug.

"No you're not," Clark told him. "I mean, when we were fixing up Whit's car, you were right there, and you're good man. You've always been good with your hands."

Lucas rolled his eyes. "Yeah, but you know the old man. He'll never let me do what I want. I'd probably be better off going to work for someone like Edge, you know?"

"And do what? Rob banks? Run the gambling rackets in town?"

His brother snorted. "Sure. Make the old man real proud. Speaking of which ..."

"It's whom."

"Huh?"

"Speaking of whom."

Lucas scowled. "Whatever. Anyway, Lex told me he's in town tonight."

"What? How come I didn't hear about it?"

"Maybe cause you're never around these days."

"Maybe cause I don't like living in a mausoleum."

"A what?"

"Don't you read?"

Lucas shrugged. "What for? I'm not gonna need books. Not if I'm going to work for Intergang."

Clark groaned, rubbing a hand over his face.

"Come on," he said. "I'm guessing the old man won't like it if we're late for a family dinner."

When they entered the mansion, dinner was already waiting.

"Ah, Clark, Lucas, how good of you to grace us with your presence."

Tess offered them a sympathetic look as Lionel bade them sit down. Clark grimaced at the plate in front of him.

"Why are you so late?" Lex asked.

"We were just hanging out with the gang," Lucas said.

"I wasn't asking you, Lucas. I was asking Clark."

Lucas scowled at Lex but said nothing.

"Yes, son, tell us what was so important you chose to ignore a family dinner."

"Nothing," Clark muttered, picking up his knife and fork.

Lionel leaned forward, pressing the tines of his own fork into Clark's hand. It didn't hurt, but he was clearly trying to make a point.

"Nothing? I don't think you're being entirely truthful with us, Clark."

Hypocrite, Clark thought. His father was a fine one to talk about honesty.

"It doesn't matter anyway," Clark said. "It won't help."

Lex gave an audible sigh.

"This is not about that girl you were infatuated with over summer, now is it?"

"It's none of your business, Lex," he snapped.

"On the contrary, Clark, it is our business," Lionel answered. You have a future with Luthorcorp and I am not about to let some little strumpet get in the way of that."

Clark glared at his father.

"Well, maybe I don't wanna go work for Luthorcorp. Maybe I want to live my own life, away from you." He fought to keep from using his heat vision on his father. "And Lois is not some strumpet!"

"Do not take that tone with me, son. You will do as I say."

"Or what? You'll disown me? I don't care! I hate you and I hate this goddamn town!"

Clark got up from the table without eating a bite and ran out. He ran clear across the country to the west coast, finally coming to a halt at Venice Beach. He sat on the sand, watching the waves rolling in. He was barely aware of the tears streaming down his cheeks. Or the shadow that fell across him.

"Whoa, dude! Why the sad face?"

Clark looked up at the boy, squinting his eyes against the sun.

"What?"

The boy sat down beside him, kicking up a little of the sand.

"Sorry, I saw you run in."

Clark stared at him, alarmed. No one usually saw him when he was running, since he usually ran faster than most locomotives.

"Don't sweat it, okay? I'm like you."

"What do you mean, you're like me?"

"Well, allow me to demonstrate," he said.

Clark stared as the boy got up and ran over to the hot dog cart, then back again. As he glanced around, he could see other people on the beach, but they weren't moving. It was almost as if they were frozen in place. He looked up, seeing a bird hovering in mid-air. The boy was back, grinning, holding two hot dogs.

"Hungry? I'm starved."

Clark took the proffered dog, realising the boy had lifted it from the cart.

"Thanks," he said, realising he had run out without dinner.

"So, I'm Bart."

"Clark."

"You wanna talk about it?"

Clark shrugged. "Fight with my old man."

"Yeah, I skipped out on my folks about a year ago. Been living on my own ever since."

"How come?" Clark asked curiously.

"They just didn't get me. I mean, here I am, a normal kid and bam, there's this lightning strike and I'm out for the count. When I wake up, I'm like Speedy Gonzales."

Clark frowned at him, not understanding the reference. Bart didn't seem to notice.

"Anyway, I tried for about six months, but couldn't stand the uncomfortable silences, so I split."

"Yeah, my old man wants me to go work for him in the family business. Just like my older brother."

"And he don't care what you want?"

Clark shook his head. He found himself telling Bart about Lois and his family and what his father expected of him.

"Man, that bites. You know, you should maybe just split. I mean, it sounds to me like your old man only cares about what he wants."

"I can't just ... where would I go?"

"You could hang out with me," Bart said. "I mean, you could go get your girl and we could all just hang out."

It was tempting, but ... Clark shook his head again. "No. Lois would never go for it."

"Well, I wish I had an answer. I guess maybe you should just, you know, stick it out until you graduate, and then do what you want. Screw your old man."

"Why don't you come with?" Clark asked. "It's gotta be better than hanging out on the streets."

"Nah. I kinda like it here. It's not that bad."

Clark glanced at his watch. It was almost nine in Kansas.

"I better get back." He stood up. "Thanks."

Bart stood up. He was at least a foot shorter than Clark and probably about two years younger.

"Gimme some skin, man."

They swiped hands.

"If you're ever in Kansas ..."

"Yeah, I'll look you up."

If Clark thought he would be able to sneak back into the mansion without Lex or his father realising he was there, he wasn't that lucky. Just as he managed to get inside his room and closed the door, it opened again. Lex stood there, a disapproving scowl on his face.

"Where have you been?"

"Nowhere."

"Uh-huh." He crooked his finger. "Come with me."

Clark sighed and, head down, followed his brother, knowing he was going to be in for a world of punishment. He'd seen Lionel's car parked out front and knew his father was staying overnight.

Lionel was sitting at Lex's desk, glasses perched on his nose as he read some papers. He looked up as Lex entered with Clark and nodded.

"Close the door, Lex." He took off his glasses and peered at Clark. "Well, what do you have to say for yourself?"

Clark remained silent. Lex squeezed his shoulder.

"Dad asked you a question," he prompted.

"Luthors do not sulk, son. As for your little display this evening, I will not tolerate such insolence from you. You are my son and I expect even a modicum of respect from my children."

"I'm not your son," Clark said. "I'm just some freak you found in a cornfield."

Lionel smirked. "Watch out for those emotional reactions. The heart can blind you, son. You want to be your own man; that's natural." Lionel put his hands on Clark's shoulders, squeezing hard enough to hurt. Clark saw the green glow of a ring on Lionel's finger and realised it was made from a tiny sliver of Kryptonite.

"Remember, Clark, I am your father and I raised you in my own image to be the man you are becoming. You have a destiny son. Together, you and I, we could control the universe."

Clark pulled away with a groan. Lionel just snickered and went to pour himself a drink from the decanter on the wet bar.

"I sometimes shudder to think what would have happened to my little traveller if he'd been found by the first ignorant farmer that came along."

Clark stared at him. It was an odd thing for his father to say. Lex crossed his vision. His brother smirked at him as he poured his own drink.

"You will obey me, Clark. And we will hear no more talk of you trying to join the football team, or any other for that matter. You are meant for far greater things than high school games. Now run along."

Relieved, Clark went to the door in the hopes of making a quick escape. His stomach rumbled, reminding him that all he'd eaten was the hot dog Bart had managed to sneak from the cart.

"Don't plan on making a stop at the kitchen either, Clark," Lex said. "I've told the staff not to give you a thing. Perhaps you'll learn to think better on an empty stomach."

Clark growled softly and went out, heaving a sigh as he climbed the stairs to go to his bedroom. He had no sooner closed his door than there was a quiet knock. He x-rayed the door, relieved to see it was Tess.

She smiled at him as he opened the door, handing him a package wrapped in wax paper.

"I managed to steal some sandwiches," she said, closing the door behind her.

Clark opened the package and sat down on his bed, wolfing down the sandwiches.

"You okay?" Tess asked, sitting beside him and watching him eat.

Clark shrugged. "I guess."

"Hey, you don't have to be stoic with me," she said.

"I hate him," he murmured.

Tess rubbed his arm soothingly.

"What are you going to do? You know he'll never let you ..."

"I know. I have to figure something out, but I can't do anything until I graduate. I just ..."

"You should have heard the shouting match between Dad and Lex. Dad thinks Lex should be able to control you better. You know, you don't need Dad's permission to do anything, but why sports? Especially football. I mean, you don't know if you can control your powers."

Clark sent her an aggrieved look and she raised her hands.

"I'm just saying, okay?" She peered at him. "Is this really about impressing Lois, because you know she doesn't care about that stuff."

"Then why did she say ..."

"Maybe because at school all people see is Clark Luthor. She just wants to see the guy who she met at the lake. The one who cares about people and wants to be a reporter." She looked thoughtful. "Hey, maybe you can write for the school paper."

Clark shook his head. "As soon as my name appears above an article, Dad'll put a stop to it."

"Then don't tell him. Write under another name, or just not put your name on them. You're a good writer, Clark, I've seen some of your stuff."

He frowned and nodded. She was right. There was a way to work this out. He thought for a few moments about his last conversation with Lois.

"Do people really say I'm a bully?" he asked.

"Who told you that?" she said, frowning.

"Lois."

She bit her lip. "Well, I have kind of heard stuff like that, but that's because they don't know you. I mean, they think you're just like Lucas, who gets a kick out of bullying guys like Sheldon. I've never seen you do anything like that. I mean, look at how you got Jimmy to join the T-Birds. The guys would never have accepted him if you hadn't looked out for him. People just see what they wanna see Clark."

"I think ... I think maybe you're right. About Lois, I mean. I don't think I'll ever be a jock, but ..."

"Like I told you," Tess said softly. "Tell her the truth. She'll understand. She knows it's not really you. I mean, especially after the whole scarecrow thing."

"What?"

"Um, yeah, it sort of came up in conversation. Look, if you want me to, I can sort of fix things so you can see her. Talk to her. Tell her how you really feel. She's pretty cool, is Lois. I mean, I kind of thought she was a goody-two-shoes at first, but she's not like that at all."

"You'd do that for me?" he asked.

She smiled and kissed him on the cheek.

"Of course I would. You know, out of any of us, you're the only one with a good chance of getting out from under Dad's thumb."

"You will too," he told her. "You're pretty smart, Tess. I mean, maybe Oliver could help you."

"Well, I don't know about that, since he's away serving his country and all that, but yeah. I bet he could."

Clark smiled. "I swear Tess, if I manage to get out from under Dad, I'll take you with me."

Tess grinned and held out her pinky finger. "Pinky swear?" she said.

Clark laughed. They hadn't done that since they were kids and playing games in the grounds of the Metropolis estate.

"Yeah, pinky swear."


	7. Chapter 6

Lois was sitting in English class, bored out of her mind. They were supposed to be learning Twelfth Night, but the teacher was so dull he had put half the class to sleep. She sighed, trying to concentrate on the reading, but the classroom was too hot.

A nudge on her shoulder had her looking around and she frowned at the boy sitting behind her. He quickly slipped her a folded piece of paper. Lois glanced toward the front of the room, but the teacher was too intent on humiliating the two students reading from the play to pay any attention to her.

She nodded and took the note, unfolding it.

_Meet me by the bleachers at lunch. T._

Lois looked over at Tess, then nodded. It became even harder to concentrate on the lesson after that as she began to wonder what Tess wanted to talk to her about. Time seemed to go even slower after that. She began to tap her pencil on her notebook, her mind drifting.

The bell rang and she packed up her books. There was another class between then and lunch and none of the Pink Ladies had a class with her.

Lois found herself thinking how wrong she had been about Tess. At first, she had thought the redhead was just as spoiled as Lana, but she wasn't. In spite of her family, Tess had been nice to her. Lois supposed it also had something to do with the fact that she had confessed to having been caught drinking in the barracks with Wes Keenan.

It was kind of funny, really. Tess seemed to have this image around school, like she was so tough because she was part of the Pink Ladies. The girl gang had been around Smallville High for years and any girl who either became part of the group or was acknowledged by them was guaranteed to be popular. Lana might have objected, but even she had been prepared to admit she had misjudged Lois and she had begun to include Lois in some of their activities. Not that the Pink Ladies were a knitting circle or anything like that, Lois thought, grinning, but they didn't go around stealing or boosting cars either.

The thing about an image was, it wasn't real. People seemed to fall for the facade and didn't see the real person underneath. That was what she meant about Tess. Like deep down, Tess was lonely. Sure, she and Clark seemed pretty close. She sure spent a lot of her time defending her brother. The redhead never said so, but Lois figured she felt she didn't fit in with her family. She wasn't the perfect daughter who would bow and scrape and do everything her father wanted. Neither could she rebel by doing things like petty crime, which Lucas was known to do.

Glancing at the clock, Lois realised it was almost the end of class and she hadn't finished her test. The teacher had decided to give them a quiz, telling them to complete it within the hour, but Lois had spent most of it daydreaming. She turned her attention back to the paper in front of her and began marking off the multiple choice questions, finishing just as the bell rang. She gathered her things and handed in her paper, then escaped before Mark could get to her.

She had liked Mark, and he'd liked her back, although there wasn't really anything worth pursuing. He'd kissed her a couple of times but there had been no spark, no magic. Not like with Clark.

Lois ran through the hallway and out past the gym to the field, looking around by the bleachers. For a moment, she thought she had missed Tess, but then spotted the redhead sitting on one of the wooden slats, smiling up at ... Clark!

She hesitated, wondering if she should approach them. She hadn't spoken to Clark since that day at the Talon, although she'd heard he'd been trying out for some of the school sports teams.

Tess spotted her and waved her over. Lois frowned as Tess nudged her brother and murmured something. Clark looked a little embarrassed.

"God, will you just get over yourself and talk to her? She won't bite you know."

Reluctantly, Clark turned and smiled uncertainly at her. As Lois stood there, not knowing what to say, Tess got up.

"Okay, I got you two here, now say something. Anything. Before you both drive me nuts." They still didn't say anything, causing the redhead to roll her eyes. "Geez! Okay, look, let's start over. Clark, I'd like you to meet a very good friend of mine by the name of Lois Lane. Lois, this is my brother, Clark. I really think you two would hit it off if you took the time to get to know each other. So, have at it."

Tess stepped down onto the path below, leaving them staring at each other. Lois fidgeted. Clark's lips twitched, like he was fighting the urge not to laugh. Suddenly they were both laughing.

"You wanna go somewhere?" Clark asked.

"Sure. Where?"

She let Clark take her hand and lead her to a secluded spot away from the school.

"You know, we shouldn't ..."

"Yes we should," he said. "Lois, I ... I really just want to say I'm sorry for acting like such a jerk. I didn't mean to hurt you that night."

"I know. I understand, really I do." She looked at him, her hand on his. It looked so small compared to his own.

"It's just ... well, I'm a Luthor, and, people sort of have this idea about us. I mean, me and Tess, I mean, Tess and I, we're not like that. It's kind of dumb. I wish ... I wish sometimes that I wasn't adopted by Lionel, you know?"

"Is it really that bad?"

"I hate him, Lois. I really hate him." He sighed and looked away for a few moments. "We had this big fight the other night. Well, sort of, I guess. I ended up just walking out and wandering around for a couple of hours, so I could cool down. I got back and he was like ... he's my father and I have to obey him. It's so not fair." He squeezed her hand. "I met this kid. He's like a couple years younger than me and he ran away from home a year ago. He said if I wanted to I could hang out with him."

"What about school? I mean, don't you still want to be a reporter?"

"Yeah, I do. Actually, Tess and I were kind of talking about that the other night. She thinks I should join the school paper."

"If it's what you want, I think you should, but don't do it for me, Clark. Do it because it's something that makes you happy."

"I really wish I could run away with you, Lois. We'd go somewhere, like, I don't know, Tahiti or something and I'd build a little hut on the beach. We'd be away from everyone. No Lionel, no general telling us what to do."

Lois grinned. "Tahiti sounds nice, but I think we'd be awfully bored after a while without anyone else to talk to."

"Yeah, maybe."

He settled with his head in her lap, the way he'd done when they'd been sitting at the lake, just talking. Lois began stroking his forehead, soothing him. His troubles weren't going to go away, but maybe she could make his burden a little easier to bear.

"Are you going to the dance-off on Saturday?" he asked.

"Mark was going to ask me," she said.

"Don't go with him," Clark said, sounding almost pleading. "Go with me."

"I don't know," she said slowly.

"I can dance, you know. That's probably the one good thing the old man did when I was a kid. I mean, I pretended I hated it, but well, chicks like guys who can dance."

Lois looked down at him, a stern expression on her face.

"Chicks?" she said.

"Um ..." he said, grinning. "Does this mean I'm in trouble?"

"Better believe it, buster!" she said, jabbing him in the ribs. He laughed.

"Okay, okay, uncle!" He stared up at her, sobering. She looked so beautiful, the way the sun shone on her face, making it seem like it was glowing. "Lois?"

"Yes?"

"Can I kiss you?"

"You really need to ask?" she said softly.

He nodded and sat up. She was blushing and seemed a little breathless.

"I really, really do," he said. "God, you're so beautiful."

He sat close to her, gently stroking her arm, tracing the smooth, creamy skin, lifting her fingers one by one. She was staring at him, her eyes huge, like a deer caught in the headlights. He had to taste her, even just for a moment. He leaned forward, pressing his lips gently to hers in a chaste kiss. Lois was the one who deepened it, nervously darting her tongue forward.

Clark pulled her closer, the kiss becoming more passionate. He wrapped her in his embrace, desperate to feel her body next to him. His hand cupped her breast and she gasped, pulling away.

"Clark, don't."

He stared at her, genuinely puzzled.

"What?"

"What do you mean what?" she said, sounding more than a little annoyed. "Did you ask to kiss me just so you could cop a feel?"

He frowned. "What? Lois, no, I ... I didn't mean. Please, I just got carried away. I didn't mean to push," he added, pleading with his eyes. "It's just ... you're so beautiful and you smell so good, I just want to be near you."

She relented, nodding.

"All right."

He put his arm around her and kissed her temple. Lois relaxed in his embrace.

"I got a letter from my dad," she told him. "He told me he's glad I've settled down. He thinks he made the right decision leaving me here."

"You miss him."

"I do," she sighed. "I mean, sometimes it was tough, you know, being dragged around from base to base, practically living out of a suitcase, but he's my dad. He's all I have. Well, apart from Lucy."

"Where is she?" he asked. Lois didn't talk about her sister much.

"She's in boarding school in Europe. Dad wanted her to have a good education."

"Do you envy that?"

"Sometimes." She shrugged. "I don't know. I guess I've grown to like it here. I mean, there's Chloe, and Tess is nice. You two seem really close."

"Tess is like my best friend sometimes," he said. "She understands how hard it is with our dad, you know?"

"Yeah. Your dad sounds like a total ogre."

When he'd been little, Clark had been given a book of fairytales by the nanny. There had been an illustrated story about an ogre. He suddenly had an image of his father as that ogre and began to laugh.

"What's so funny?" Lois asked.

"Just picturing my dad as an ogre," he said, snorting with laughter. "I can just see him with the pointy ears and the fangs, and wild hair."

Lois began laughing as well. They both laughed until they were doubled over, howling.

"Oh, oh god," Lois giggled. "Ooh my stomach hurts."

"Lionel the ogre," Clark chuckled, which had Lois in fits of giggles again, clutching her stomach.

"Nooo, stop!"

Clark hugged her, rubbing her stomach in a soothing motion until she quit giggling. She wiped tears from the corners of her eyes.

"So, um, you wanna go somewhere, get a burger or something?" he suggested.

She shook her head regretfully. "I gotta go have dinner at the Kents. We could go tomorrow, or, um, you could come to dinner."

"I don't think they like me," he said.

"They just don't know you, that's all," Lois said. "Come on. It's gotta be better than hanging out at home where you're miserable."

She had a point. Still, he wasn't sure he wanted to be under the scrutiny of Jonathan or Martha Kent. They'd tolerated him over the summer, but then he supposed they'd thought Lois would be going to Germany with her father and would never see him again.

Lois was looking at him pleadingly and he knew he couldn't turn her down.

"Okay. Let me go find Tess and tell her so she won't worry. I mean, not that she does anyway, but ..."

"Mr K was going to pick me up after school," she said. "What time is it?"

"Almost three," he said, glancing at his watch. Unlike the watch Lex had been given by their mother – something which held great sentimental value for him – Lionel had given Clark a plain old watch, telling him he'd have to earn better. Clark would never tell his father, or Lex, for that matter, that he preferred the plain watch to Lex's stupid Napoleon Franc one.

Tess was enthusiastic when he found her hanging out with Chloe and Lana.

"That's great," she said, careful not to hug him in front of the rest of the gang. "I knew you could fix things if you just talked to her."

"So where are you going?" Chloe asked.

"Lois invited me to dinner at the Kents," he said.

Lana snorted. "Ring a ding ding."

Clark just ignored her. "I gotta go," he told his sister.

She nodded. "Look, just be yourself, okay? They'll love you once they really get to know you."

Lois was waiting in the parking lot for him. Jonathan Kent was sitting in the beat-up truck he used on the farm, honking the horn. Lois smiled brightly when she saw him approach and went to the truck. Clark opened the door and helped her inside. She shifted over to the middle and Clark got in the other side.

Jonathan Kent frowned at him.

"I invited Clark home for dinner," Lois told the farmer, who just scowled and put the truck in gear. Clark bit his lip, but said nothing. Lois squeezed his hand and smiled at him.

"No car, Clark?" Jonathan asked.

"Yeah, I don't like to drive it at school," he told the blonde man.

"You'd rather steal them instead, is that it?"

"Clark doesn't do that," Lois said, quickly jumping to his defence.

Jonathan just snorted as if he didn't believe her. The rest of the ride home was silent. As soon as Jonathan pulled up in the driveway, they got out.

"Don't forget to do your chores, Lois," he said.

Lois nodded. "Come on," she told Clark. "Come and help me."

"What do you want me to do?" he asked.

Lois showed him how to muck out the stables and put straw down. They worked together feeding the animals. Clark found he enjoyed the work and liked being around the animals, especially the horses, which nudged him gently.

It was growing dark by the time they finished. Lois led him inside the house and showed him where to wash up.

"Lois, would you come in here a second?" Martha asked.

Lois bit her lip, not liking Martha's tone at all. She glanced at Clark then shrugged, going into the kitchen.

"Yes Mrs K?"

"I had a call while you were out doing your chores. Oh, hello Clark. Jonathan said Lois had invited you for dinner."

Clark nodded. "I hope that's okay," he said softly.

"Of course. Now, Lois, what is this I hear about you skipping classes?"

Lois gulped. "Um, where did you hear that?" she asked, knowing there was no point in denying it.

"Well, Sally Murphy's mother told Nell."

Great, Lois thought. The Smallville gossip mill was in full swing.

"It was just a couple of classes," she said.

"And your father expects you to work hard in school, Lois. If he heard about this ..."

"Mrs K, I ..."

"It was my fault, Mrs Kent," Clark said quietly. "I just really needed to talk to Lois and I persuaded her to skip school."

"Well, that's neither here nor there, Clark," Martha said. "While I don't like you encouraging Lois to break the rules her father has set down for her, Lois has a mind of her own." She turned to the sink and washed her hands, wiping them with the towel. "Now, why don't you and Lois set the table for dinner."

Lois watched the older couple at dinner. They kept looking at Clark like he was the son of the devil or something, yet there was also an underlying tension between them. She was sure it had something to do with Clark, or the Luthors. She could say one thing for Clark. He had impeccable manners when he was trying to impress someone. He said please and thank you and acted like the perfect gentleman, helping her to her chair, dishing out her food and making pleasant conversation.

Hannah was watching Clark and giggling until looks from both Martha and Lois made her stop. She ate while still continuing to watch Clark with fascination.

"So, Clark, what are your plans for the future?" Martha asked. Lois had the impression she had kicked Jonathan under the table to make him keep his temper.

"Uh, well, I was hoping to get a job as a reporter at the Daily Planet, but my father wants me to join the company."

"Surely your father would understand if it's not what you want to do," the redhead told him, frowning.

Clark shook his head. "Dad isn't understanding at all. I have to do what he expects of me."

Martha clearly didn't like that attitude at all.

"Well, of course you have to do what your father expects," Jonathan said bitterly. "Why do you think I stayed on this farm?"

"Hmm, I seem to remember a certain young man who defied his father and ran off to Metropolis to join the Metropolis Sharks.

"Uh, Martha ..." he said, shifting uncomfortably in his seat.

Lois hid a smile as the couple exchanged glances. Martha scolded her husband with her eyes, while Lois suddenly had the urge to giggle. Jonathan seemed to be turning red.

"What I think Jonathan meant to say is that you're eighteen years old, Clark," Martha said gently. "It's rare that a boy your age knows what he wants out of life. I think being a reporter is a noble ambition. Is there no way to change your father's mind?"

Clark shook his head. "I wish there was."

Clark offered to help Lois with the dishes and they quickly washed and dried, leaving the older couple to relax on the sofa in the parlour while Hannah went upstairs to finish her homework. After they were done cleaning the kitchen, Lois took Clark out to the barn. She shivered. There seemed to be the signs of snow in the nor'wester.

"Are you sure you wouldn't be warmer in the house?" Clark asked as they mounted the steps to the loft.

"It's quieter out here," she said. "Besides, I have a blanket on the sofa."

They sat on the sofa with the blanket over their knees. Lois felt warm with Clark's arm around her. He seemed to be warmer than most guys she knew, although not so warm that it was weird or anything.

"Are you sure they trust us up here?" Clark said.

"They're not my parents, Smallville," she told him.

He cocked an eyebrow at her. "Smallville?"

She shrugged. "Well, you live in Smallville.

"Not by choice," he commented bitterly.

Lois nudged him with her elbow. "Hey, I'm here too. Besides, I like calling you something other than Luthor."

"You're going to be a handful, aren't you," he said.

Lois giggled. "This surprises you how?"

There was a creak on the steps and Lois craned her neck looking over the edge.

"Han ..."

The twelve-year-old grinned. "I wanted to see if you two were making out," she said. "That's what my friend Kit did when her brother was in his bedroom with his girlfriend."

"You're a nosy brat, Hannah," Lois admonished her. The blonde just giggled, clearly not sorry at all for being caught in her nosiness.

"I was curious," she said.

"Yeah, well you know what curiosity did to the cat, don'tcha?" Clark said evenly.

"You'd have to catch me first," she told him cheekily.

"Don't tempt me," he growled, grabbing her around the waist and tickling her. Hannah squealed, laughing.

Lois watched Clark tease the younger girl, a wistful smile on her face. She wished a little that she could be as young as Hannah, so she could be so carefree. Clark seemed to revel in the teasing, a happy smile on his face. It was a change from the serious young man he'd been at dinner. She had seen a sadness in his eyes that he'd quickly tried to hide. He was hurting and she had no idea how to ease his pain.

At least, she thought, my dad loves me. Sure, he was thousands of miles away, but he had left her with a couple who were kind and treated her like a daughter. She had often thought in the past few months that it was a shame Martha had never been able to have children of her own, because she deserved to have a houseful of children.

Clark and Hannah had ceased their teasing and were looking at her.

"I think someone's feeling a little left out," he said, grinning wickedly.

Lois pulled away, trying to move out of reach, but both Hannah and Clark were too swift for her. She squealed as Clark managed to get in a jab to her ribs, while Hannah managed to get the other side. She was soon on the floor, laughing her head off. Clark still sat on the sofa, chuckling. Lois let her breathing get back to normal and looked at Hannah.

"I think we should get our own back, don't you, Han?"

Hannah nodded, giggling. They both advanced on Clark, who tried to get away, although he didn't seem to be trying very hard. Soon all three of them were sprawled on the floor, laughing.

Clark left reluctantly an hour later, politely refusing Jonathan's offer to drive him home. He entered the mansion quietly shortly after leaving the farm, going up the stairs to his room. Tess came out of her room, clearly having heard him. She beckoned him inside.

"I told Lex you were hanging out with some of the guys from school. Luc even covered for you."

Clark was surprised at that. Lucas had never covered for him before.

"Thanks," he said.

"You look like you had a good time," she said. "I mean, you look really happy. Like you did last summer."

"Yeah. They're nice people Tess." He sighed. "You know what I wish sometimes?"

She nodded. "Yeah, I know. Sometimes I wish Dad wasn't my dad either, but at least you, me and Luc ... we've got each other."

"One day, Tess. One day we're all gonna up and split and he won't be able to hurt us any more."


	8. Chapter 7

Two days before the dance, the Kents had agreed to Lois going out with Clark to the local diner for burgers. She fidgeted the entire day and even Tess gave her an odd look now and then. The maths teacher kept her after class, asking why she hadn't come to class the day before. Lois wasn't going to tell him the truth.

"I, uh, wasn't feeling well," she said. "You know, I'm on the rag."

There was nothing worse than a man who couldn't handle a woman's 'monthly' and Mr Daniels was no exception. This time, however, it worked in Lois' favour.

"Oh, well, of course, uh, thank you, Lois, you may go."

Lois fought the urge to giggle as she left the classroom. Tess, who had overheard, grinned at her.

"Did you see his face?" she giggled.

"I know," Lois replied. She walked with Tess to the lockers where Chloe was waiting for them.

"Guess what?" she said.

"Lana and Whit broke up again?" Tess said.

Chloe scowled at her. "No. I got an assignment for the Torch."

"Really?" Lois said, hugging her cousin. "That's great. What is it?"

"I get to write an article on the dance on Saturday. Speaking of which, are you going with Clark?"

Lois nodded. "He asked me yesterday. I'm so glad you're getting to write for the Torch."

"I'm not the only one," Chloe said, grinning. "Clark signed up as a reporter too. I mean, we're not officially on staff, but ..."

Tess smiled. "Yeah, I knew he was gonna. What did he get assigned?"

"I dunno. I heard the editor saying something about that kid Cyrus something. You know, the one who thinks he's an alien."

Lois frowned. "Come on, Chlo, you don't really believe all that stuff, do you?"

"I suppose you think it's Luthorcorp to blame for all the weird stuff that happens in this leafy little hamlet," Chloe asked her cousin. "No offence, Tess."

"None taken."

"No, but I still don't think aliens are to blame either," Lois answered.

Chloe shrugged. They continued walking down the hallway, chatting quietly. The 'triplets' glared at them as they walked, shouting out insults. Lois ignored them. Mandy had been miffed that Lois hadn't joined the cheerleading squad, although Lois guessed it also had something to do with the fact that Clark had chosen Lois over her.

"So, who are you going to the dance with?" Lois asked Tess.

"I don't know. Nobody's really asked me," she said sadly.

"Well, maybe you should stag it," Chloe said.

"That's for guys," Tess answered in protest.

"So you'll be the first girl to do it," Chloe answered.

"I don't think Lucas is going with anyone," Lois mused aloud.

Tess looked scandalised. "Lo, you don't go to a dance with your brother! That's just like, eww!"

Lois' eyes widened as she looked at her friend. "I didn't mean ..." She felt herself reddening. "That's not what I meant!"

Tess giggled. "But you should so see your face right now."

Lois punched her in the shoulder and glared at her giggling cousin.

"Okay, you guys are just mean! I'm going to go find Clark."

"Dum de dum dum ... duuuuum!" the two girls chorused.

Lois narrowed her eyes at them. "Shut up!"

"Lois and Clark, sitting in a tree ..." Chloe began, laughing. Tess' eyes twinkled.

"Oh yeah, so who are you going to the dance with?" Lois asked pointedly.

Chloe reddened. "Um ..."

Tess stopped laughing and stared at her.

"Oh my gosh! You and Jimmy?"

"Don't spread it around," Chloe told the redhead. "You'll ruin my reputation."

"Spread it where?" Lois asked, looking around. They were walking across the empty parking lot. School had finished half an hour earlier and there was no one else in sight. "Hey, Chloe's got a crush on Jimmy!" she yelled, not that anyone was around to hear.

"Shut up, Lane!"

"Make me, Sullivan!"

Tess rolled her eyes. "You two are so adolescent."

"Are not!" Chloe told her.

"Are too!"

"Are not!"

"Are too!"

"Shut up, Luthor!"

Tess sent Lois a look which said something like: 'see what you started?' Lois just giggled.

"I'm gonna go," she said. "I have to meet Clark."

She ran out of the parking lot, leaving her friends giggling behind her. It was a thirty minute walk to the Talon and it was cold, but she didn't care. The temperature helped to cool down her burning face.

Clark was waiting at the end of the main street for her. He put an arm around her.

"You look cold," he said. "I could have picked you up from the parking lot."

"It's okay," she said. "I like walking. I heard you joined the paper."

"It's just one story," he answered with a shrug.

"Still, I'm glad. I like seeing you happy."

Clark grinned. He did like chasing down a story, even if there wasn't much to it. He squeezed her gently as they walked along the main street to the Talon. As soon as he got inside and saw Lucas, Jimmy and Kenickie, he thought better of it.

"Uh, maybe we should go some place else," he said.

"Why?" she asked, frowning.

"Cause we can't be alone here," he told her, nodding toward the back booth where the guys were sitting.

"It'll be fine," she said. "We'll just hide behind menus," she added with a smile, as if it was a game they were playing.

Clark found himself grinning. He liked the way she thought. They sat at the table, grabbing a couple of menus and standing them up, blocking the view from the other tables. Vi, the kindly older woman who had been working here for probably as long as the diner had been open, came over to get their orders.

"Um, a cherry soda," Lois ordered.

"What would you like, Clark?" Vi asked.

"A double burger with everything and a cherry soda with chocolate ice cream."

"Mm, you know that sounds good," Lois said, licking her lips. "I'll have the same."

Vi smiled and nodded, leaving them to it.

Clark looked at Lois. She'd eaten almost as much as him at dinner the night before. She wasn't like other girls who claimed they were watching their figure. That was one of the things he loved most about her.

"You eat a lot," he commented.

"Well, I'm a growing girl," she said. "I'm not a picky eater. Besides, I've been told guys like a girl who's not stick thin."

He squeezed her hand across the table.

"I don't know about other girls, but I like that you don't worry about stuff like that. I like a girl with a few, um, curves."

"Oh, really?" she said, her eyes twinkling at him, her smile gently teasing.

"Yeah," he said, deliberately letting his gaze sweep over her body – what he could see of it. Lois blushed.

Clark was just beginning to enjoy being with her when someone dropped onto the cushioned seat beside him.

"Hey Clark," Whitney said, grinning.

Clark sighed. So much for getting some private time with Lois.

"Hello Lana," Lois said politely. "How are you?"

"Peachy keen," Lana said sarcastically.

Clark got the impression that while Lana was including Lois in a few things, she still wasn't that friendly toward her. Unless there was something else going on that he didn't know about. He studied the girl. She had bruises on her neck, which clearly showed she and Whitney had been doing a lot of making out lately.

Lana spotted him looking at her and she scowled.

"What are you looking at?" she snarled.

"Nothing," he said, sitting back as their food was placed on the table.

Whitney grabbed Clark's burger and began stuffing it in his mouth. Clark rolled his eyes at Lois, while Whitney grabbed Lana's purse.

"What are you doing?"

"Well, you ain't gonna stiff me with the check," he told her.

"My dutch treat days are over."

"Yeah, plan to be home a lot," Whitney told her around his mouthful of burger.

"You're such a pig!" she told him.

Clark groaned to himself as the other couple began fighting. Whitney had been brought up to believe it was the guy who brought home the bacon, even though Lana's family was considerably wealthier than the Fordmans and it had been a bone of contention between them since the two started dating. Whitney had often complained to Clark that Nell looked at him like he was lower than dirt because his father had worked every day at the store until his heart had given out. Nell had probably never worked a day in her life. Whitney was never going to be good enough for her 'little girl', but then Nell was greedy.

Once Lana and Whitney arrived, it wasn't long before the others spotted them. Chloe and Tess showed up as well, smirking at Lois, who just sent them a pointed glare. Jimmy helped himself to some of Lois' fries, while Chloe grimaced.

"My dad makes some mean pancakes," she told Jimmy. "You wanna come over?"

Jimmy grinned. "Yeah."

Lucas smirked. "Hey Jimmy. Fifteen minutes!"

Jimmy aimed at punch at Lucas, who ducked, grinning. Chloe frowned at them and Clark sent her a look which said she really didn't want to know. The two left the diner together.

Clark sighed, watching as his friends made a mess of the table, then gestured with his hand at Lois. She frowned, so he nodded his head toward the door.

"Let's get out of here," he mouthed.

Lois grinned and nodded, sliding out of the booth and taking his hand. They ran out.

"Sorry about that," he said, even though none of it had been his fault.

"It's okay." She shivered in the cold. She'd taken off her coat to sit in the booth as it had been warm inside the Talon and he helped her slide her arms inside. He walked with her to his car. He'd driven it to school knowing he was meeting her for a date.

"Um, so we can go somewhere else. Granville, maybe."

"Sure," she said, sliding along the bench seat to sit close to him. "Is everything okay with Whitney and Lana? She didn't seem all that happy."

"Yeah. I mean, I think you're right. I think something's up with them."

"I don't get them. I mean, Lana and I don't talk much, but I think she really likes him. When he's not acting like a ... like a Neanderthal."

"Yeah, he likes her too, it's just that ... well, Nell kind of looks down on him. She's always been keen on me and Lana."

"Why? Is it because your dad's rich?" she asked.

She'd hit the nail on the head, Clark thought. That was another thing he liked about Lois. She was smart enough to see things exactly as they were and she didn't pull any punches about it.

"Yeah."

"No wonder you came looking for me," she murmured.

He grinned at her. "If I recall, you were the one who almost drowned trying to get my attention."

"I was not trying to ..." She jabbed him in the ribs. "Ooh, you!"

He laughed, feeling, for once, free of the burdens of being his father's son. With Lois, he didn't have to be anything but who he was.

He dropped Lois off at the farm later that night after they'd found another diner in Granville and just spent a couple of hours talking quietly, without any interruptions from the gang. Jason Dante and his gang had come into the diner while they were eating and Clark had tensed, but Dante thankfully hadn't seen him.

He had wanted to see Lois to the door, but Jonathan Kent had stood out on the porch, arms folded, watching. Lois had just smiled and got out of the car, promising he could pick her up for the dance.

It was all over school the next day that Lana and Whitney had had a huge fight and broke up. The triplets accosted Clark in the hallway.

"Hey, Clark, you've been ignoring me," Mandy said, pouting.

Clark was not in the mood to put up with Mandy and her bad attempts at flirting.

"Cool it, Mandy."

"Oh, come on, ask me to the dance. I'd be a much better dancer than that Lois."

"I said cool it, Mandy," he told her, shoving her out of the way. "I'm going with Lois."

She stuck out her bottom lip and scowled.

"What does she have that I don't have?"

Looks? Personality? Clark thought, reminded of a song which had been released earlier in the year. He wondered what Mandy would do if he started singing it.

_Cause you got personality,  
_  
"Jerk!" Mandy said as he pulled away from her grasping hands, grateful that he'd never gotten to more than first base with the girl. Sure, he'd never got further than that with Lois either, but somehow it just felt different with her.

He ran into Lucas and Whitney working on the car in the workshop.

"Hey guys," he said.

"Hey man. Heard you're taking Lois to the dance tomorrow."

"Yeah? What about it, Luc?"

"Nothin'. Just, well, this chick suddenly seems more important to you than the gang, that's all. Feels like you're leaving us behind."

"Yeah, well you guys can't follow me all your lives. How's the car coming?" he asked Whitney.

"It's all right," he said, sounding down.

"Lana, huh?"

The blonde nodded. "Yeah, Lana. I saw her out front this morning. You wouldn't believe who she and Tess took off with."

Clark frowned. "Who?"

"Dante."

"Jason? Why would she ..."

Whitney shrugged. "I guess she's trying to get back at me or something. I dunno. It didn't look like Tess wanted to go either."

Clark hesitated, wondering if he should go after them, but there was no telling where they might be. It wasn't like Lana to do something this crazy, especially when she knew a guy like Dante's reputation. The guy would eat her for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Lucas took him aside.

"Hey, bro, don't go trying to be a hero."

Clark looked at him. "I wasn't ..."

"I know that look, Clark. You think you're going to go run off and be like her knight in shining leather, but maybe Lana doesn't need to be rescued. Besides, it's Whit who should be doing the rescuing, I mean, if you're serious about giving him dibs."

Clark could see his point. No matter how bad things were between Whitney and Lana, she needed to see him as her 'hero', not Clark. She had to be able to see past the whole money issue and see Whitney for who he really was, as a good guy capable of doing a lot more than somebody's grunt work.

"Yeah, I guess you're right," he said.

Lucas looked at him, raising his eyebrows in surprise.

"Well, that's a first," he grinned.

"Yeah, don't let it go to your head Luc."

"Hey, you guys gonna keep chattering like a couple of girls or are we gonna get down to work here?"

Clark looked at Luc and they both had the same idea, tackling Whitney and pinning him up against the wall to each give him a noogie.

"Hey, cut it out!" he whined, trying to squirm away from them, but it just egged them on. "Come on guys, stop it! I mean it!"

XXXXXXX

Lois was glad the Kents hadn't withdrawn permission for her to go to the dance when they found out Clark was taking her. She still had no idea why they seemed to dislike Clark so much, although she had a feeling it was more that they didn't quite trust him. Her instincts told her there was far more to the problem than just the fact he was a Luthor, but she was reluctant to broach the subject with them.

She had dressed carefully in a dress she knew Martha would approve of. The bodice fit tightly across her chest, with cap sleeves and a full, flared skirt. It was a little too frilly for her liking, but it was pretty and in a crimson with flowers embroidered on the fabric.

"Are you sure you won't be too cold?" Martha asked, putting a sweater over the dress.

"I'm sure it'll be warm in the gym once people start dancing."

Martha sighed. "I still can't believe Dick Fontaine is going to be broadcasting the dance-off. He looks so handsome on the television."

"Better than Troy Donahue?" Lois said with a giggle.

"Hmm, nobody's better than Troy Donahue," the redhead replied with a dreamy look in her eye.

"Mooom!" Hannah said, rolling her eyes.

"Just don't tell your dad," she told her daughter.

"Don't worry, I won't," Hannah answered, sighing dramatically, as if the thought of her mother liking a teen idol was just all kinds of wrong.

She heard Clark pull up and rather than make him get out of the car, Lois ran out, careful not to slip on the icy steps. Clark smiled broadly as she got in the car and kissed him on the cheek.

"Hi," she said.

"Hi. You look beautiful."

Lois thanked him, glancing at him. He was wearing a black suit jacket with a white shirt which had a wide collar. Forget Troy Donahue, she thought. Clark beat him hands down.

The camera crew were still in the midst of setting up when they walked into the decorated gym. Lois thought the streamers and balloons were a bit much, but she hadn't joined the decorating committee so she supposed she couldn't complain.

Tess came in behind them and Lois hugged her friend. She was glad that Tess had come, even if she didn't have a date.

"I got a letter from Ollie," Tess told her. "He's coming home next summer."

"Well, that's great, isn't it?"

Tess shrugged. "Yeah, I dunno. I mean, he's nice and everything, but I just don't know if it's forever, you know? Not like you and Clark."

"Oh come on, Tess, me and Clark?"

"You know he's totally gone on you, right?"

Lois blushed. "Yeah, I'm kind of gone on him too." She glanced at Clark, who didn't appear to be listening. He was talking with Kenickie.

"Hey, quit blocking the entrance," Lana said. Lois' eyes widened as she saw who Lana was with. Jason Dante! Lana was wearing this hot black number that hugged all her figure, showing just how thin she was. Dante didn't appear to mind. The guy seemed to have more arms than an octopus, the way he was all over her. Lana kept squirming, as if she was trying to get away from him, but as soon as Whitney walked in with his date she pretended to be just as enthused about Jason.

This was not good, Lois thought as a teacher began to call out from the centre of the dance floor.

"All right girls and boys, let's all gather in a circle," he said. "Now, they'll be going to air very shortly but firstly let's just have some warm-up numbers. Take it away, Johnny Casino and the Gamblers."

"Come on, Lois, let's dance," Clark said, taking her hand. She let him pull her on to the dance floor, noticing that Jimmy and Chloe joined them as well. She winked at her cousin, who was looking very pretty in dark pink. Her dress had shoestring straps and a full skirt. She'd let her blonde hair grow out so it was now down to her shoulders. She'd pinned it up in a sort of French twist, adding a butterfly clip.

_Rock 'n' roll is here to stay  
_  
Clark was a good dancer, Lois thought as they began to jive dance to the song. He clearly enjoyed it too, as he had a huge grin on his face. She noticed people beginning to watch them dance as Clark lifted her in his arms and swung her around. The teacher who had started things off said something to Chloe and Jimmy and scribbled on his clipboard.

The next dance was a slow dance. Clark pulled Lois into his arms for a slow dance. Whitney and his date sidled up close to them.

"Hey Clark," he said. "This is my date, Jessie."

Clark looked distinctly uncomfortable.

"Hello Clark," she said with a flirty wink at him.

"Jessie," he said. "I heard you were at St Mary's."

Her gaze flicked over him, checking him out. Lois tensed, squeezing Clark's bicep. He was just as tense, the non-verbals between him and the blonde speaking volumes.

Clark pulled her away.

"You know her?" she asked.

He shook his head. Lois pulled on his arm as he tried to look away.

"Clark!"

"All right. I went with her for about five minutes back in my sophomore year. And before you ask, no, I did not go all the way with her. I told you I've never done that with anyone and never wanted to."

"I'm sorry, it's just, the way she looked at you ..."

He put his hands either side of her head, gently tilting her face so she looked deep into his eyes.

"Lois, you're the only girl I've ever wanted to be with that way. Please don't be jealous. She's nothing. She never meant anything to me."

She nodded. "Okay," she said, kissing him gently.

The cameras were aimed at the stage, where Dick Fontaine was talking into a microphone. The broadcast had begun.

As the band began to play Hound Dog, the students all crowded around the camera, eager to get their faces on television. Nobody was dancing. Lois tried to pull Clark away as he began fooling around in front of the camera.

Then the announcement was made for the dance-off and the band began to play Born to Hand Jive. One by one the couples were eliminated. Lois noticed Lana and Dante were quickly disqualified, as was Lucas and the girl he was dancing with.

It looked like her and Clark and Whitney and Jessie were the only ones left. Until Lucas decided to cut in and pull her away. Clark frowned at his brother, trying to pull her back, then he seemed to get a far away look in his eyes.

"What's wrong?" Lois asked.

"Uh, I have to go. I'm sorry. Luc, take my car and take Lois home after the dance-off."

"Wait, where are you going?" Lucas asked.

"Sorry," was all Clark said as he pulled away. Lois was left staring after him, wondering what had happened.


	9. Chapter 8

Clark had hated to leave Lois at the dance, but his super-hearing had picked up something happening at the plant and he'd had no choice. A crazed man was threatening to blow up the plant, with Lex and Lionel in it. Even if he was still angry at his father and brother, they were in a bad situation and he couldn't allow them to be killed when there was something he could do about it.

It wasn't the first time someone had threatened the plant. In freshman year, the school had decided to combine a few classes and send freshmen and seniors along to the plant for a guided tour. Chloe had been completely embarrassed, especially since it was her father who oversaw much of the operation and Clark and Lucas had been equally embarrassed, since Lex was the man in charge.

That time, an ex-employee, who claimed he'd become chronically ill after being exposed to something at the plant, had taken the students hostage, hoping to get Lionel's attention. The man had claimed there had been another level to the plant, which Lionel had denied. Clark might dislike his big brother at times, but at least Lex had been trying to do the right thing by negotiating with Earl. It wasn't his fault that the plant had almost been blown up because Earl had accidentally broken the valve on a pipe containing methane gas.

Rather than evacuate with the rest of the students, Clark had ducked back, shutting off the gas and went searching for the mystery level. Between them, he and Lex had managed to stop Earl before he killed someone, but after it was all over, Lionel had lectured them for hours about discretion. He'd then proceeded to berate Clark for his actions, as if he'd been prepared to let thirty teenagers die just to protect his secrets.

As Clark sped to the plant, he found himself thinking about Lois. Tess had told him weeks ago to tell his girlfriend – and that thought gave him a little thrill – the truth about his abilities. He worried though, firstly that she might not understand and secondly that knowing might put her in danger. She was safe enough in Smallville, he supposed, but then again, Lex was attacked by a meteor freak practically every other week. Still, Clark's rational mind knew that it was more the fact that Lex was a Luthor that made him a target, not the fact that he knew Clark's secret.

When he had learned how he came to Earth, Clark had immediately thought of the people who had been changed by the meteors and had blamed himself, until Lex had sat him down and given him a whole different perspective on it. Since he'd been a small child when he'd landed on Earth, the mere idea of him being guilty for the meteors was ludicrous, his brother had said. It was one of the few civilised conversations they'd ever had about the subject. Or about anything really, Clark thought.

There hadn't always been this enmity between them. When he'd been really little, Lex had been like his hero. Whenever he'd been in trouble with Dad, Lex had always been the one to defend him. Everything had been great until Lex had grown up and become just another of Dad's drones, Clark thought. They were all the same, buzzing around like worker bees trying to make sure the queen, in this case, Lionel, got what she wanted.

He paused outside of the perimeter fence, cocking his head so he could listen to what was going on. He'd known from Tess that Lex had been planning on working late tonight as Lionel had been coming in to go over some paperwork. Clark heard the guards talking, wondering what they were supposed to do, since they couldn't barge in and disarm the bomb. Well, that was great, Clark thought. It was no wonder someone managed to break in to the mansion every other week, if this was who Lex hired as his security.

He tuned the guards out and concentrated his hearing and his vision, focusing on the main office. He could see a skeleton sitting in a chair. Judging from the form, it was Lex, and he appeared to have been tied to it. Underneath was what looked like a crude mechanism.

"I don't negotiate with terrorists," Lionel said, breaking Clark's concentration. His focus flicked to the man standing beside Lex, facing another man in the middle of the room. Clark sighed. Lionel and his 'non-negotiation' stance was going to get Lex killed. He might not be his brother's biggest fan but he wasn't about to stand by and let him die.

Clark sped into the plant, past security and up the stairs into the office. Lionel gaped at him as he pushed the other man aside. The man crashed into the wall and fell, unconscious.

"What do you think you are doing?" he asked.

Clark ignored him, looking at Lex. He was sweating profusely, the rag in his mouth damp. He'd clearly been there a while as his eyes were red, his skin mottled. Clark got down on his knees and looked at the bomb. There were four sticks of dynamite attached to an alarm clock, clearly meant to trigger the detonator and wires threaded through the rope around Lex's wrists, holding him to the chair. Any attempt to get Lex away would most likely set off the bomb. As he reached for the detonator, he pulled his hand back, clutching his wrist, watching in consternation as the veins bulged. They'd used meteor rock.

"Clark, son, how many times have I told you ..."

Clark stood and turned on him. "Shut up, Dad, and let me think."

"How dare you talk to me like that," Lionel spluttered.

Lex, at least, appeared grateful for Clark's presence, shooting their father a look. Clark narrowed his eyes, focusing more closely on the detonator. The little box inside included a crude mix of wiring and meteor rock. He had no idea if anything he tried, like shorting out the wires, would cause the bomb to explode.

There was only one thing to do, he decided. If he moved fast enough, he could get Lex free and take the impact of the explosion himself. It would hurt like the dickens, he thought, even though it was just a sliver of meteor rock, but at least he stood a good chance of surviving the explosion.

He pulled the gag off and told Lex what he was going to do.

"Clark, no, that's insane!" Lex said, his voice little more than a rasp.

"It's the only chance we've got," he said. "I mean, even before I knocked the guy out, I don't think he was going to tell us how to defuse it. Who is he, anyway?"

"Winslow Schott. A former employee," Lionel told him. "Lex caught him selling company secrets to Wayne Enterprises."

Clark nodded, his mind already on the task at hand.

"All right, Dad. I need you to clear out with Mr Schott here."

"Clark, don't do this," Lex begged. "It's not worth ..."

"Lex, shut up. I need to concentrate."

He had never really timed how fast he was and had no idea whether he was going to be fast enough to free Lex before the explosion. He still had to try, and both Lex and his father knew that.

He heard Lionel leave the room, dragging Schott out. Lex was still staring at him, rivulets of sweat running down his face, flexing his fingers. Clark took a deep breath then moved, faster than the human eye could see, yanking at the cords holding his brother to the chair. His super-hearing heard the click of the detonator just as he managed to pull Lex clear and he saw the flash and felt the heat of the explosion at the same time. Clark threw himself over Lex as the room was engulfed in a fireball. He was aware of a pain in his side, then was pulled down into darkness.

XXXXXXXX

Still upset over the abruptness of Clark's exit from the dance, Lois had spent all of Sunday alternately being angry with Clark and crying because he hadn't called. She had tried calling Tess, but the houseman wouldn't allow her to talk to Clark's sister. Lucas hadn't even tried to explain what had happened when he'd dropped her off at the farm, but he'd been a perfect gentleman the entire time.

Martha knew something was wrong by the way Lois had been hanging out in the loft. She came up the stairs.

"Lois?"

Lois sniffled. "I'm fine," she said.

"That's good, that you're fine, but you don't even know what I was going to ask. Do you want to tell me what happened at the dance?" she asked, sinking down on the sofa.

"Clark ran out on me," she said. "Why would he do that?"

Martha smoothed her hair. "I don't know, sweetie. I think that's something you have to ask him."

She didn't dare go over to the mansion to find out. Clark had told her it was a creepy kind of place and she wasn't sure she would be welcome.

She was still unhappy when she went to school the next day. The triplets were out front of the school, whispering. Lois frowned at them, thinking they were gossiping as usual, but their faces were pale.

Abby ran up to her, her eyes wide with shock.

"Lois, oh my god, did you hear?"

She shook her head. "What?"

"There was some kind of explosion at the plant on Saturday. They're saying Lex almost got killed and there was someone else hurt in it."

She stared at the blonde girl, her heart pounding.

"What?"

"It's all over town," Abby said, nodding.

Lois pulled away gently from the other girl, running through the hallway to the lockers. Chloe, Lana and Tess were standing together, talking quietly. She ran up to them.

"Tess, is it true?"

Tess' face was pale, her eyes huge. She nodded sombrely.

"Some guy who used to work for my dad had Lex wired to a bomb. I don't know exactly what happened but Clark was there. He got hurt. That's why he's not here today."

Lois gasped, a hand over her mouth. She felt sick.

"Is he okay?"

Tess nodded again. "Lex says he'll be okay in a day or so, but he could have been killed," she said, tears in her eyes. "And Dad just ... it's like he doesn't even care!"

Lois hugged her friend as Tess started sobbing, while Chloe and Lana each rubbed her back.

"I hate Lionel," Lana murmured.

"You and me both," Chloe said.

"You know what we should do," Lois suggested quietly. "We should all go to the mansion and see how he is."

"You should," Lana said. "You're his girlfriend."

It was the first time the other girl had ever gone out of her way to be nice to Lois and it was appreciated.

Chloe nodded her agreement. "Lana's right. You should go home with Tess."

"I can't," Tess said. "I have a history test and if I don't pass my dad'll kill me."

"You're too upset to sit some stupid test," Lana told her. "I'll tell the old windbag to get lost. Heck, I'll even give him a note and tell him it's from your father. He won't care."

Tess looked at the dark-haired girl, eyes wide and luminous.

"You'd do that for me?" she asked.

"Of course," Lana replied with a shrug, as if it went without saying.

Chloe smiled at the redhead. "Go on. Lois will take you home."

Lois took her friend's hand. "Come on. It's just one day." She mouthed her thanks to the other two girls.

It was cold as they went back outside. It was going to be a long walk to the mansion but there was no other way to get there, since Tess was not allowed to drive.

"Going somewhere ladies?"

Lois started, then turned around and slapped Lucas in the arm.

"Geez, don't do that," she said.

"Not blowing off class are you?"

"Like you can talk, Luc," Tess said.

"Tess is upset over what happened at the plant so we thought it would be a good idea ..."

"Say no more," Lucas said. "Your chariot awaits." Lois frowned at him and he sighed. "Look, you wanna walk in the snow, that's cool, but I got Clark's car."

"All right," she answered. "Let's go."

It was a quiet, but short ride to the mansion. Tess sat the entire time, staring out the window, while Lois was squeezed in the middle between the siblings. Lois felt herself becoming more nervous as they approached the turn to the drive.

She got out of the car as it stopped, following Tess inside the house. Clark had described it as like a castle without a moat, and it was certainly imposing.

Tess led her up the stairs to what she hoped was Clark's room, but they were halted at the top by Lionel. Lois had only seen photographs of the Luthor patriarch and he seemed bigger in person.

"Tess? What are you doing home?"

"I ... I ..."

"She wasn't feeling well," Lois said, quickly covering for her friend.

Lionel peered at her. "I see. And you are?"

"Lois. Lois Lane."

"Ahh, yes, the strumpet." Lois bristled at the comment, but held her tongue. "I suppose you heard what happened. Well, Clark is sleeping. He is being treated by my personal physician and it is best if he is not disturbed."

"What exactly happened?"

"My son was foolish enough to try and act the hero," Lionel said. "Both my sons almost paid the price for his foolhardiness. I'm sorry you wasted your trip, Miss Lane. I will have my man see you out."

"Please, I just want to see him, even for a minute," she said.

"I have already told you he is not to be disturbed." He dismissed her with a look, then stared at his daughter. "If you're unwell, Lutessa, then perhaps you ought to go to your room and lie down, hmm?"

Tess swallowed visibly, then bowed her head. "Yes Daddy."

Lois sighed as Lionel walked away, looking at her friend.

"Maybe you better go," Tess told her softly. "I don't want you to get in trouble."

Lois nodded, watching as Tess went to another door down the hall. She paused in the doorway, giving Lois a sad smile.

It was clear that Tess was more than a little afraid of her father. Lois wondered if there was more going on in this family than even Clark had told her, but there was little she could do about it.

A man touched her arm.

"Miss Lane," he said, "this way."

Lois followed him downstairs to the front entrance.

"Wait. I'd like to speak to Miss Lane," another voice said.

Lois turned and looked at the bald man. So this was Lex, she thought as the older man led her into what appeared to be the study.

"Well," Lex said, "I have to admit I can understand the attraction. You're a very pretty girl. I can see why he's so taken with you."

Lois bit her lip. Lex had clearly been injured in the incident on Saturday night. He had a livid bruise on his forehead and another one on his cheek. She imagined there were a few more bruises on his body.

"Lois ... may I call you Lois?" She shrugged, still keeping quiet. "I feel I can be frank with you, Lois. You're wasting your time pursuing my brother. I'm afraid he will never be allowed to continue this relationship."

"Why not?" she asked.

"You can ask me that? Ever since he met you, Clark has become ... well, insolent would be the word, I suppose. It seems you are encouraging him in endeavours which our father believes would be a waste of his talents."

"I'm not encouraging him in anything except in doing what he wants, not what you or your father wants."

"That's precisely my point."

"What would you rather have? A brother who speaks his own mind or, I don't know, a mindless worker bee who just does your bidding?"

"Listen to me for one second, Lois. I would hate to see you hurt if you became caught in the middle of something you have no business being involved in."

That sounded suspiciously like a threat to her. Lois stood stiffly, pulling herself up to her full height. She might not be as tall as Lex, but she was still the daughter of a general; a man who had been decorated several times for service to his country.

"I think you'll find, Lex, that I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself."

"I've no doubt," Lex drawled, standing so close to her she could smell the cologne he wore. Suddenly, his hand moved to the back of her head and his mouth closed over hers.

Lois struggled, pushing him away, then slapped him across the face.

"How dare you!" she seethed.

Lex just smirked and wiped his mouth. He looked over her shoulder.

"Lucas, why don't you drive her back to school," he said. "I would hate for you to miss your classes. Clark will be back at school in a couple of days but I would suggest you consider ending this now, Miss Lane. It's clear my brother isn't going to."

"Or you'll do what?" she asked, not expecting an answer.

She ran out, grabbing Lucas' arm. He shrugged and walked out with her to the car. He drove for a couple of miles, then stopped the car on the side of the road.

"Lois, I know you care about Clark. He cares about you too. It's just ... well, now you know what it's like for him. I mean, it's like Dad expects him to ... well, I don't really know what Dad expects but he's never going to let Clark continue to see you. You know that, right? As far as our father's concerned, you're just in the way of his destiny. I mean, what Lex did just then, that's not the worst he could do."

Lois understood that, but now she felt, more than ever, that Clark needed her.

XXXXXXXX

Clark had been feeling woozy for two days but after sleeping all day Monday, he was well enough to go down to dinner.

During the explosion, the meteor rock had blown into almost atomic particles, embedding itself in his skin. It had taken hours to get rid of every little piece. It had been a good thing that Clark had been unconscious for most of the procedure as he'd overheard Lex's physician, Toby, tell Lex that his skin had turned green, his veins bulging as if his blood was boiling. Such a small piece, he thought, to cause so much damage.

He'd taken the brunt of the explosion, his body vulnerable to the impact, thanks to the meteor rock, and he'd ended up with cuts and bruises all over his body. Thankfully, they were gone as soon as the meteor rock had been removed.

He had been sleeping when Lionel had walked into his room, woken him up, then lectured him for the next hour about what he'd considered to be his foolishness. Clark didn't care. People had been in danger and he wouldn't have hesitated to do it again.

"Clark," Tess said, her face pale. "How are you feeling?"

"Better," he told her.

Lex looked at him. "Well, it's good to see you up and around," he said, the smile not quite reaching his eyes.

They'd had a long talk the day before. Or rather, Lex had talked and Clark had been forced to listen. Lex, too, had pointed out the foolishness of his actions, but he had at least shown some gratitude for Clark saving his life.

"By the way, your little girlfriend stopped by today," Lex said. "She's a very pretty girl, Clark. I can see why you're so enamoured with her. If I had seen her first, you would be in for some very tough competition."

Clark stared at his brother. It seemed to him like Lex was making a veiled threat. Almost like he was planning on trying to take Lois away from him. Clark was at least confident enough in Lois' feelings for him to believe she wouldn't do that to him.

"Clark, take my advice. End it, now, before you hurt this girl any further. There is no future for you with her."

"I love her," he told his brother. "And there's nothing you can do or say that will make me end it."

"Love is a wasted emotion, Clark. You heard what Dad said the other day. You're letting your emotions guide you, especially when it comes to this girl. There is no place for emotions in business."

Clark dearly wanted to tell his brother to go to hell, but he kept silent. He knew now, more than ever, that he needed to protect Lois. Lex and Lionel clearly saw her as a threat and if he wasn't careful, they could try to hurt her. That would happen over his dead body, he thought.


	10. Chapter 9

Clark was getting ready for school the next day when Lucas knocked on his door. Clark frowned at his brother. Lucas didn't normally knock.

"Hey," Lucas said, walking in and quietly closing the door. "I needed to talk to you."

"What about?" he asked.

"About Lois. Look, I thought you should know, when she came over yesterday, Lex, uh, Lex kissed her."

"He did what?" Clark said. Lucas looked a little alarmed as Clark raised his voice.

"Yeah, I know, but Lois, she handled it. She slapped him." He smirked. "That girl has a mean right cross."

Clark grinned. "That's Lois," he said. He sobered. "They want me to end it with her, but I can't do that Luc. I love her."

"I know, man. I'm seeing all the stuff that's been going on between you and Dad and I kinda get it now. I see why you hate him."

He sighed.

"What can I do, Luc?"

"I dunno, man, but I think if you're gonna do it, do it real quick because I think the old man's got some kind of plan for you."

"Like what?"

Lucas shrugged. "Dunno. I just overheard him and Lex talking about it last night. Like they're trying to figure out a way to control you. Hate to say it, bro, but with all the stuff you can do, well, if they do figure out how to get you to do what they want, well, god help the rest of the world is all I can say."

Clark nodded. He grabbed his leather jacket.

"C'mon. We don't wanna be late for school and I need to see Lois before then."

"What are you going to do about her?"

"I'll figure things out. Somehow. They can't stop me from seeing her."

He walked into school thirty minutes later, looking around for Lois. Everyone stared at him, making it obvious that the incident on the Saturday had already spread around school, if not the whole town.

"Clark!"

He looked around, realising it was Lana. She ran up and hugged him, for once not being proprietary.

"Tess told us what happened," she said. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," he told her, nodding.

"Lois came back to school yesterday really upset," she replied. "She wouldn't say what happened."

"I know," he said. "Have you seen her?"

"Yeah, she was with Tess by the bleachers. Clark, I ... I'm really glad you're okay. We were all pretty worried. Um, is Lex and your dad, are they okay?"

"They're fine." He began walking with her down the hallway, Lucas trailing behind. "How are things with you and Whit?"

She shrugged. "I dunno. I know it was stupid, going off with Jason. I just wanted to make him crazy, you know?"

"You didn't ..."

She smiled wistfully. "Nothing happened between me and Jason. I don't like him like that. Not the way I ... not the way I feel about Whit."

"Have you told him that?" Clark said.

"No, I ... It's just Nell would never ..."

"Lana, you're not a kid and Nell can't tell you what to do. If you really care about Whit, then you should be with him."

"Clark's got a point, Lana. I mean, who cares what your aunt thinks. She's not the one living your life. I just wish ... I mean, I wish I'd been lucky enough to find a girl as cool as you. And Lois," he added as an aside to Clark.

Lana smiled and pulled him into a quick hug, making him walk between them.

"You'll find a girl one day, Lucas. A girl who will see you for the cool guy you are."

"You think so?"

"I know so," she said. She paused, looking up at Clark. "Look, I just wanna say, I'm sorry. About a lot of things. I know I was kind of ... well, you know ... I was mean to Lois. I was jealous, I can admit that now. It's just ... I saw the way you looked at her that night at the pep rally and I envied that. I did wish for a while that you'd look at me that way, but now I know that you and me ..." She snickered. "Okay, stop me cause I'm babbling."

Clark grinned back. "You know, Lana, when you're not acting like a brat, you're actually pretty cool."

"Oh I was always cool," she said loftily, tossing her long black hair. "You just never appreciated it."

They'd reached the bleachers. Lois and Tess looked up.

"Where's Chloe?" Lois asked Lana.

"I dunno. She said she wanted to do some digging."

"Into what?"

Lana shook her head and smiled. "Who knows? You know Chloe!"

"Yeah," Lois said, rolling her eyes. She looked at Clark, eyeing him uncertainly. "Hi," she said softly.

"Hi."

"Um, you okay?"

"Yeah. I'm fine."

"Tess said there was some kind of explosion."

"Yeah. I only got a few bruises. I'm fine."

Lois frowned and Clark sighed. Could this get any more awkward, he thought.

"Uh, listen, can we go somewhere and talk?"

"School's going to start in a minute."

"This is important."

Lois nodded, glancing at the two girls, who nodded encouragingly. "All right." She got up and began walking with him along the running track. At first he didn't know what to say and they just walked in silence. Lois finally stopped walking and looked up at him.

"I'm still upset with you for leaving the dance the way you did."

Clark grimaced. He couldn't exactly tell her the truth about having heard his father and brother in trouble. She'd look at him like he was an escapee from the funny farm, he thought.

"Yeah, um, Lois, I want to ..."

"I mean, it's not anything to do with that girl Whitney was with, is it?"

"No, Lois. I ... " Here goes, he thought. "I found out my dad was in trouble. You know, with the stuff at the plant."

She frowned at him, confused. "How could you?" she asked. "You were right there with me the whole time."

"I, um, heard one of the teachers talking in the boys' bathroom," he said. Lame, really lame, he thought.  
Lois still looked as if she didn't believe him, but it seemed she had decided not to push.

"Well, okay, I'll give you that on account of the fact you got hurt saving your dad and Lex, but I still want to know about Jessie, which by the way, I thought was kind of mean of Whitney. I mean, I know Lana was with Jason Dante, but she only did it because she was really hurt about something Whit said to her and she figured he wasn't going to make it up to her anytime soon and ..."

"Lois, you're babbling!"

She grinned. "I do that sometimes. It's just ... I've always hated uncomfortable silences. I mean, I guess it comes back to my dad when he just used to sit at the table and not say anything so I always felt like I had to break the silence, and ..." She grinned sheepishly. "I'm doing it again, aren't I?"

"Yup!" he said squeezing her. "Listen, Lucas told me what happened with Lex."

"You know, I didn't ... I mean, I don't ..."

"Lo, it's okay. Lucas told me you hit him. He said you have a mean right cross."

She shrugged. "Yeah, well I wasn't going to let that go."

"That's what I love about you," he said. Her eyes widened as she realised what he'd said, but didn't comment further. He continued. "Anyway, I just ... I want you to be careful, especially if you see Lex or Dad."

"Why? You don't have to protect me, Clark."

"Humour me," he said. "Lois, they're both telling me I have to end it. I kinda have to wonder why they're so adamant about this. I don't think it's you they're so against as there's something else going on."

"Like what?"

"I don't know. I was thinking of talking to Chloe and seeing if she can help me figure a few things out."

"Need some help?" she asked.

He grinned. "Yeah."

The bell rang and he let her go reluctantly. "We better get to class," he said. "Not that I don't want to skip, but ..." Lionel and Lex had both told him he had to knuckle down and right now he wanted to keep a low profile until he could figure out what he wanted to do.

"You want to keep up appearances," she said. She gave him a quick kiss and let him go. He watched her walk away, wishing he could speed up time. The sooner he got them both away from Lionel and Lex, the better, he thought.

XXXXXXX

Lois tried to concentrate in her classes but she kept thinking about Clark and what had happened the day before. It looked like they might have to date in secret, she thought, but she could live with that. She had to talk to Clark, though, and help him figure out some way of getting away from his family. Lucas and Tess were different and they probably needed to be protected as well.

It was all so messed up. Lois hadn't had the greatest relationship with her father, but she knew her father loved her. For Clark, it was more like Lionel 'owned' him. The man was a monster. There were no two ways about it.

The question was, what was Clark going to do? Could he really just walk away from the Luthors? Uproot himself and probably Tess and Lucas as well?

Tess shot her a look when the bell rang for lunch period and she joined the redhead.

"What's up?" she asked.

"Clark managed to slip Jimmy a note and he passed it to Lucas to give to me. He wants to meet you under the bleachers."

Lois frowned. Under the bleachers was usually code for 'make-out central' at Smallville High. A lot of kids went there to neck without risk of the teachers walking by and forcing them apart. Not that the teachers didn't know about it anyway, Lois thought.

She walked with Tess along the hallway until they met Lana, who smiled at Lois and nodded. It was definitely a big change from the Lana she had first met. Tess linked arms with the dark-haired girl and walked away, while Lois ran to the football field. She heard Clark's voice.

"Beat it," he was telling some kids already hiding under the bleachers. "And I mean amscray!"

Since Clark was bigger than most of the kids at the school, when he said jump, most of them said how high. A few tried their luck, but it seemed they knew when they were beaten as they quickly scrambled out.

Lois was surprised to see Chloe sitting on one of the oil drums, waiting for them.

"Chlo?"

"I asked Chloe here," Clark said quietly. "Lo, she found out something about the guy that attacked my dad on Saturday."

"I was waiting until you got here," Chloe said, nodding. "Look, I know you guys really care about each other, but this is going to get dangerous."

"Why? What's wrong?"

"Lionel told Clark that Schott had been caught selling company secrets, but that's not really what happened. I heard through this guy I know that Schott was working for Lionel, but Lionel fired him for completely arbitrary reasons. Anyway, Schott's kind of nuts."

"What exactly was Schott doing for Mr Luthor?" Lois asked.

"Building machines. Schott's like this genius who can build anything. I mean, my friend told me he likes working with explosives the most, but yeah, he's like way smarter than even Einstein."

"Are you saying he tried to blow up Lex because Dad fired him?"

Chloe nodded, looking at Clark. "Like I said, Schott's like completely nuts."

"So what were these machines he was building for Mr Luthor?" Lois asked.

"I don't know, but there's more. Schott's been talking up a storm, telling anyone who'll listen that there's a lot going on at Luthorcorp."

"Like what?"

Chloe frowned. "Remember that girl in freshman year? The one who could change into anyone?"

"Tina?"

"Yeah. Remember she robbed the bank?"

"I remember." Clark looked at Lois. "I found out it was her and left the sheriff an anonymous note."

"Tina disappeared a few months after she was locked up in Belle Reve," Chloe told him. "I found out where she disappeared to. Lex and Lionel have her locked up at one of the other Luthorcorp plants. Only it's not a processing plant. It's a place where they can research people like Tina."

Lois could see Clark trying to remember something.

"What is it?" she asked.

He shook his head. "I don't know. I just kind of get this feeling like I know what Chloe's talking about. I think I might have been there."

"What? You mean visiting?"

"Uh no," he said, flushing. "I'm not sure, exactly."

Lois stared at him. It looked to her like Clark might have been the victim of some of Lionel's experiments, but why that was she just didn't know.

Chloe went on to tell them that they would have to be even more careful. Schott had been attacked as he was being transferred from the county lock-up, but she wasn't sure if he was badly injured. He was alive, at least. It was fairly clear that Chloe thought Schott had been hurt in an attempt to keep him from talking.

Lois noticed Clark wrap an arm around her shoulders, as if he was trying to be protective. Lois understood his concerns. If Lex and his father learned that they were still seeing each other, there was no telling what lengths they would go to to keep them apart.

She had to wonder why the elder Luthors were so adamant that Clark and Lois stop seeing each other. Just how much of a threat was she to their planned future for Clark?

"Clark, why do you think they want to keep us apart? I mean, think about it. What exactly is it about me that's a threat to their plans for you?"

"I don't know."

"The thing is, I'm not anybody."

"Still, you've been encouraging Clark to do what he wants. I guess that sort of flies in the face of their efforts to get you to do what they want, Clark. I mean ..." Chloe looked thoughtful. "I hope you used another name when you wrote your article," she said. "If your dad found out you were writing for the school paper ..."

"Don't worry. I made sure the editor knows not to print stuff under my real name," Clark assured her.

"Don't you think they're trying to hide something?" Lois asked. "I mean, they haven't exactly been encouraging you to do anything at school except, you know, schoolwork."

"Plus your dad's always pretty much let you get away with anything as long as you don't get caught. I mean, he didn't care when it was Lex getting into trouble all the time and he doesn't care about Lucas getting into trouble with the sheriff. Why you?"

Clark shook his head. "I don't know."

Lois saw her cousin bite her lip and wondered what Chloe was thinking. Either Clark just didn't know or he was keeping something back from them. Lois understood if he needed to keep things from her. She wasn't the type to push someone to do something they didn't want to do, but still, if there was something he had on his father and brother that he could use to get away from them, then she figured what was the harm. Unless, of course, whatever he was hiding was dangerous to them all.

XXXXXXXXX

Clark didn't want to tell them the truth, knowing if Lionel found out it could put them both in danger. Lionel had taken him aside when Lucas had started getting into trouble and made it clear that if Clark thought about following his brother's antics then he better not get caught. The last thing Lionel wanted was for him to be arrested, which would have meant being taken to the county lock-up. Neither one of them knew if he even had fingerprints like a normal human and that was a secret Lionel intended to keep. Not for his own protection, Clark realised, but because that knowledge gave his father power over him.

Over the next few weeks, he continued to see Lois in secret, while working with Chloe to find out more about what had happened at the plant. When she managed to get more information about the other plant, he realised his recollection had been right. He had been there before, when he was a small child. Lionel had taken him there to do experiments on him. Clark had had nightmares for weeks afterwards.

The thing that bothered Clark the most was not the nightmares, or the experiments. It was the dreams of a house and a woman with red hair who was not Lillian. He still had those dreams sometimes and they had been becoming more frequent in the past few months.

"Clark?"

He looked up from his books. Lucas came in and closed the door.

"What is it?" he asked.

"I thought you should know. Dad and Lex have gone to the Ridge plant. They were talking about something they managed to cook up at the plant."

Clark frowned. "Any idea what?"

"No, but I think you need to be careful," Lucas warned. "They've been planning something for weeks."

Clark had heard both Lex and Lionel discussing a business deal they were working on. It had sounded to him like the man they were trying to negotiate the deal with was resisting all attempts. Lex had been ranting for the past few days about it in his office.

"Well, thanks," he said. "I'm going out," he added, getting off his bed and grabbing his leather jacket.

"Going out with Lois?"

"Gonna take her to the drive-in," he told him.

"You sure? I mean if any of Dad's or Lex's friends should see you ..."

"I'll hear them before I see them," Clark assured his brother.

"Yeah, about that. I've kinda been hearing the girls talking. Well, you know how girls talk. Lois knows there's something different about you."

"What do you mean, she knows?" he asked.

"Well, suspects, I guess."

"But she doesn't really know anything."

"So why don't you tell her, man? She deserves to know what she's getting into."

Clark bit his lip. Lucas had a point, but he was still worried about what his father might do if he discovered Lois knew the truth about him.

He left the house, driving to the Kent Farm. Lois was waiting on the porch. She ran down the steps and got in the car, giving him a quick kiss.

"Let's go," she said.

She was quiet as he parked at the drive-in.

"You okay?" he asked.

She shrugged. "Yeah, I sort of had a fight with Jonathan. He wanted me to stop seeing you."

"Geez, him and my dad should get together," Clark said, rolling his eyes.

Lois sighed and snuggled close to him.

"Can we not talk about this?" she said. "I just want to ..." He thought she was going to say she wanted to watch the movie, but even as the huge screen lit up, she turned to him. "I just would rather not talk, period," she said, crashing her lips on his.

Clark grinned. He could do this. Hell, talking was over-rated anyway.


	11. Chapter 10

"Clark, would you come in here please?"

Clark hesitated in the hallway outside Lex's study, then glanced at his sister. She shrugged at him. Be careful, she mouthed, squeezing his bicep. Clark went in, noting both Lex and his father were present. Lionel was sitting on the huge couch while Lex was at the bar, a glass of scotch in his hand.

"Close the door," Lex said.

This was not looking good, he thought. Lex's tone was almost ice cold.

"What did you want? I've got school."

"School can wait," Lionel said, getting up from the couch. "Clark, we have tolerated your disobedience long enough."

"What are you ..."

"Did you think we would not find out? We knew you were continuing this dalliance with the Lane girl, but we let it go. We even allowed you to continue your activities with your brother and your friends, but then we learned you were working for the school paper. We warned you it was a waste of your time."

Clark bit his lip, but said nothing.

"The fact is, Clark, your little acts of rebellion have become rather tiresome and we are going to put a stop to it, right now."

Clark frowned at his father.

"What are you going to do? Pull me out of school?"

"For starters," Lex said, lounging against the bar.

"You can't take me out of school."

"You're eighteen, Clark. You will be working for me and I don't require a diploma."

"Doing what?" he asked, narrowing his gaze.

"Well," Lex smirked, "that's the million dollar question, isn't it?"

"I want you to talk to someone for me. Just talk. If you have to use your powers, well, that's no never mind. Do this for me, and I will ensure the Lane girl is not harmed in any way," Lionel said.

Clark stared at them incredulously.

"You want me to use my powers to threaten someone, is that it? And if I don't you'll hurt Lois?"

Lex waved his hand non-committally.

"You say it like it's a bad thing. It's business, Clark, something you will have to get used to if you're going to work for Dad."

"I told you, I'm not going to work for Dad," Clark told Lex.

"You have no choice in the matter."

"Or perhaps you would prefer to live like a pauper, like that farmer, whatsisname?"

"I'm not going to let you hurt Lois."

"I'm giving you until tonight to think this over, Clark," Lionel said.

Clark left the room, shaking with anger. He sped to school, searching the hallway for Chloe. He found her talking to Jason Teague.

"Hey coach. Can I borrow Chloe for a minute?"

"Sure Clark."

Clark dragged his friend into an empty room.

"What's wrong?"

"My dad. He knows I didn't stop seeing Lois like he told me to. He wants me to do something for him and if I don't, he's going to hurt her. We have to find something, Chloe. Anything we can use to make him go away."

"Clark, I don't know. I wish I could help but ... Look, it may be nothing, but I have been corresponding with a cop in the city. He told me something interesting about your dad. There's more. Come on."

He followed her to the Torch office. No one else was in the room and since they were writing for the newspaper, no one would think twice about them being there.

"Look, I know you don't like me prying into your life, but I found out something. About your adoption."

"What is it?" he asked, taking the document she handed him.

"Tess helped me get your birth certificate. I did some digging and I found out there was an agency which was only open for about six months. A place called Metropolis United Charities. The thing is, you weren't the only child on their books. Tess and Lucas were also with the agency."

"What do you mean? Are you saying they're adopted, just like me?"

"Not quite. I found a woman who's been locked up in Belle Reve for the past sixteen years. She told me she had an affair with Lionel when your mom was sick and had Lucas. She was sent to a home for unwed mothers and the baby was taken from her and placed in an orphanage Then when Lucas was five, someone showed up at the children's home and took him away."

"I'm guessing the same thing happened to Tess," Clark said.

He knew his adoption had been faked somehow, but this answered at least some of the questions.

"Clark, I talked to the person who supposedly signed the adoption papers, but all they said was they were paid a great deal of money to sign them under the name of Metropolis United Charities. There was no such adoption agency."

"I need to know more, Chloe. What did this guy tell you about my dad?"

"Only that he's not descended from Scottish nobility like he claims. He says Lionel was raised in Metropolis, and that he knows Morgan Edge."

Clark's eyes widened as he stared at his friend. This was just getting too dangerous, he thought.

"Chloe, you need to back off from this. I don't want you getting hurt."

"Clark, don't you think ..."

"I have to handle this. Somehow. Just, if you see Lois, tell her to be careful. Especially if someone starts following her."

"Clark, you can't tell me to back off and then not do the same thing yourself."

"I can take care of myself, Chloe. I'd just rather not see any of my friends get hurt."

"Someone needs to help you."

"Do you know what they would do to you if they found out, Chlo? What they would do to your dad? You know he works for them."

Chloe bit her lip, clearly realising Clark had a point.

"What are you going to do?" she asked.

"I don't know," he answered. "I've only got until tonight to figure something out."

He left the office, deciding to skip class. He knew Lois would be upset, since he wasn't going to meet her by the bleachers as they usually did, but there was little he could do about that.

Knowing his father knew a gangster like Morgan Edge was interesting, but it still didn't solve the problem. Edge would never talk and even if he did pay the man a visit, it was more than likely going to get back to his father. So that was out.

What the hell was he going to do?

XXXXXXX

Lois had been on the way to the gym when Chloe stopped her.

"Clark's gone," she said.

"What do you mean he's gone?" Lois asked, frowning.

"He left school this morning." Chloe tugged at her arm. "Come on. There's something I need to tell you."

Lois listened as her cousin related exactly what Clark had told her that morning. Her eyes widened as she began to understand the lengths Clark's father would go to to make him do his bidding.

"Are you kidding?" she said.

"No, I'm not. Clark's scared for you, Lois. I could tell. I mean, he knows you can look after yourself, but ..."

"Yeah," she sighed. "Okay, what are you guys gonna do?"

"I know Clark told me to back off, but I can't, Lo. I mean, if Lionel's been involved in anything illegal, then we have to find a way to prove it. Clark needs us."

"All right. What do you suggest?"

"I think we need to get into the plant tonight and see if we can find anything incriminating."

"Count me in," Lana said.

Lois turned. She hadn't realised the other girl was there. Lana smiled at them.

"Hey," she said with a grin, "if we can prove that Lionel's a crook, then maybe Nell will get off my case about Whitney."

Lois found herself liking the other girl, realising she'd misjudged her. They talked in low voices, arranging when and where they would meet.

Later that night, Lois dressed in a warm jacket and pants, then ran down the stairs, knowing Chloe would be by to pick her up any minute. Hannah stood in the doorway watching her.

"Where are you going?" she asked.

"Just out with some friends."

"You know it's almost eight. Your curfew's at nine."

"So?"

"So if you're late Mom and Dad'll kill you."

"Look, Han, this is just something I need to do, okay?"

"Is it about Clark?"

Lois frowned at her. "What makes you think it's about Clark?"

"Because he's all you've talked about lately."

She had no idea where Hannah had picked that up since she had barely said a word about Clark, anxious to protect the secret that they were still dating, knowing what Clark's father's reaction would be.

"Han, I don't know where you got that impression, but ..."

"One of my friends. Her sister saw you. Making out with him at Pine Ridge."

"Han, I don't know what your friend thinks she saw, but that wasn't me."

"You're lying," the younger girl said, her eyes narrowing.

Lois almost rolled her eyes. God, the kid reminded her so much of her sister, Lucy, who was still at boarding school. She missed Lucy. Sure, like a hole in the head, she thought.

"Hannah, I'm going to say this once. Butt out. It's none of your business."

"I'm so telling Mom," the girl said.

Lois just ignored her, hearing the beep from Chloe's car. She ran out of the house, shaking her head.

"What's wrong?" Chloe said.

"Hannah. Ugh, she can be a pain in the rear sometimes."

"I don't know. At least you kind of have a little sister to annoy you."

Lois looked at her cousin. "You want her, you can have her."

Chloe giggled as she drove along the driveway and pulled out onto the road, watching for cars, not that there were many in this area of town. The Kent Farm was a little isolated this far out.

They fell silent as Chloe drove along the dusty highway. It was still light, but the sun was setting. Lois fidgeted in her seat, pinching her fingers, wishing there was another way to handle this.

Dusk had fallen by the time they parked about a quarter mile down the road from the fertiliser plant. Lana was waiting for them. They quickly made their way to the fence. Lois climbed up first, then helped the other girls.

"You know what this reminds me of?" Lana said.

"What?"

"Nancy Drew."

"You read Nancy Drew?" Chloe asked incredulously.

"When I was a kid, yeah."

Lois shushed them. "Come on," she said.

They made their way to the south entrance of the complex. Both Lana and Chloe had been in the plant before, since they'd been made to go for the tour freshman year, but Lois hadn't.

Chloe led the way along the corridor, while Lana kept an ear out for the guard. They had just found the stairs to the upper level when Lana froze.

"He's coming," she whispered urgently. "Hurry."

Lois knew there was no way to hurry up the stairs without making a racket and she ushered the two girls ahead of her.

"Quietly," she said.

She crept backwards up the stairs, watching the corridor, then froze, gesturing with her hand. The others froze as well, plastering themselves as flatly as they could against the wall of the stairwell. The guard passed right on by without even looking up the stairs. Lois frowned but gestured silently. They continued up the stairs, trying to make as little noise as possible.

As soon as she saw the condition of the office, she knew why the guard hadn't bothered to look. There was a huge hole in the wall, protected only by some kind of sheeting. Lois felt sick. This was obviously where the blast had occurred.

"My god, Chlo, how could Clark have survived this, let alone get off only with a few cuts and bruises."

"I don't know," her cousin said. "Luck?" she offered.

"Then Clark's gotta be the luckiest guy in the world," Lana mused.

"Yeah, yeah, you're right," Lois said. "It's just ... there's something really weird about this town. You ever notice that?"

Lana nodded. "Yeah." She nudged her. "Hey, if the file drawers are intact, I say we see what we can find."

Lois followed her gaze. There was just enough light for them to see the file drawer, but not enough to see the contents.

"Hand me the flashlight," Lois said, going to open the drawer. It was locked. Lois felt for a hairpin in her hair and pulled it out, then inserted it in the lock and moved it around until she heard the telltale click.

"Where did you learn that?" Lana asked, her eyes wide.

"Sunday school," Lois said, then grinned. "Nah, whenever the general grounded me, I always found a way to escape. This army brat has picked more locks than Harry Houdini."

Lana laughed quietly. "You're nuts. Works for ya though."

As she began to read the files, Lois became incensed. First that Lionel or Lex could be so arrogant as to keep such information here.

Lana was also digging in the drawer. She looked puzzled as she drew something out. It was a small metal box.

"What is it?" Lois asked, peering at it.

Lana opened the box and gasped. "Lois!"

She stared at the octagonal disc. It had symbols etched on one side.

"What is that?" Chloe asked, walking over from the doorway where she'd been keeping an ear out for the guard.

"I don't know," Lana said, staring at it in wonder. She had forgotten to keep her voice lowered.

"Someone there?" a voice called.

Crap, Lois thought. "Grab those papers," she whispered, hurriedly taking the disc and shoving it back in the box, tucking it in the bag Chloe had brought.

Lana crept over to the doorway, watching the corridor. She turned back and whispered.

"I think he's at the bottom of the stairwell."

Carefully, Lois closed the file drawer. It would have to be left unlocked, she thought, but there wasn't much they could do about that.

"Is there another way out of here, Chlo?" she asked her cousin.

The blonde nodded. "Back stairs. My dad says Lex uses them when he wants to bypass the workers."

"Let's go," she said, taking her cousin's hand.

Together, the three girls crept along the corridor. Lana looked back and gasped.

"He's coming," she whispered urgently.

Lois realised the guard had spotted them when he yelled 'hey!'

Chloe gestured to a doorway and opened the door. The three girls ran for it, heading down the stairs, bursting out of the back exit and running for the perimeter fence. They didn't stop running until they reached the cars and collapsed on the ground, giggling.

"Oh my god!" Lana gasped. "That was like the best ever!"

"I know," Chloe giggled.

"I can see why you wanna be a reporter," Lana told her.

Lois sat up, catching her breath while the other two girls chattered and giggled. She wanted to look at those papers, but this was not the place to do it.

"Come on," she said. "We need to get somewhere safe so we can look at these papers."

Chloe sobered and nodded. "Yeah, you're right. Come on, Lana."

"Where should we go?" the brunette asked.

"We can't go to the farm," Lois told them. "I don't want to take the chance of the Kents finding this stuff. And you know how nosy Hannah is."

"What about school?" Chloe suggested.

Lois shook her head. "If Lionel realises it was us, that's probably the first place he's gonna come looking for it. The Talon will be closed."

Lana bit her lip. "What about the apartment above the Talon?" she said. "No one lives there right now, and since Nell owns the building ..."

Lois nodded. "Good idea," she said.

The streets in town were deserted and dark by the time they got to the Talon. Lana found the keys to the shop and led the way up the stairs to the apartment.

Lois sat on the sofa, dividing up the documents. They began to read.

Most of it was just on plant business and was as dull as dishwater, but then Chloe sat up.

"Listen to this. Subject shows remarkable abilities including accelerated healing, enhanced speed and strength and will very likely develop invulnerability when older. Blood cultures reveal subject is not of Earthly origin."

The three girls stared at each other, then scrabbled for the papers.

"Does it say who the subject is?" Lois asked.

Chloe read further, then shook her head, sighing.

"No, but it does say that Lionel ordered these when the 'subject' was just a kid. Like four or five or something."

Lana looked at them, eyes wide.

"So what this is saying is that there's someone who possibly grew up with us who has these amazing abilities." She sat back. "I wonder who it could be."

Lois bit her lip. She knew who it was. The question was, how would Clark feel knowing that she had realised the truth about him?

XXXXXXX

Clark had spent the entire day trying to find some way of beating his father and Lex so he could refuse to do what they wanted, but short of confronting a crook like Edge, he knew there was no way around it. Defeated, he made his way back to the mansion.

"You're late," Lionel told him as he entered the study. "What's your decision?"

There was clearly going to be no reprieve, but Clark couldn't do what they wanted.

"I'm not going to do it," he said.

Lex smirked from his position at the desk.

"We thought you might say that," he said. "Which is why we had a back-up plan."

Clark had no time to react as he felt the telltale nausea and dizziness.

"I warned you not to defy me, son," Lionel told him.

An arm came around his neck. Clark cursed himself for his stupidity in not checking the study as he'd walked in, but he'd been too focused on what he was about to say that he hadn't looked around the room. He struggled in the grip of someone who was stronger than him; at least, while he was affected by green meteor rock.

He gasped as he felt the prick of a needle in his neck, looking down at the syringe in the man's hand. It wasn't green, it was red.

The liquid burned in his veins, travelling through his system like fire. Clark felt a burst of heat in his eyes, then a feeling of euphoria rushed through him. He looked up at his father and brother and smirked.


	12. Chapter 11

Lionel waved the other man away and smiled at his son.

"Now, was that so difficult?" he asked.

Clark shook his head. "Not at all," he answered. "So," he added, walking around past Lionel, running his hand nonchalantly along the surface of the bar. "About this job."

Lionel nodded. "I'm sure you know about Morgan Edge. I want you to persuade him that it would be in his best interests for him to, uh, disappear."

"And if he can't be persuaded?" Clark asked, continuing to play this game.

"We'll just have to make sure no one finds the body," Lex answered.

Clark started to laugh.

"You really think you could inject me with meteor rock and I'd suddenly do your bidding?" he sneered.

"Clark ..."

Lex reached for him. Clark swatted him as if he was a fly. Lex flew across the room, hitting the wall. Lionel stared at him, clearly wishing he hadn't sent the man away. Clark was on him before Lionel could move, a hand around his throat, lifting him into the air.

"Did you really think I would be your whipping boy? Dad?" he said, spitting as if the very word was distasteful. "You really don't know me at all, do you?"

"Clark," Lionel choked.

"Save it, old man!" he snapped. "You're not my father!"

"Son, we can talk about this," Lionel managed to gasp.

"Talk? All you ever do is talk! And threaten. Well, I'm not going to let you stop me doing what I want."

He stumbled, feeling his arm weaken slightly. He dropped Lionel to the floor and looked around, realising Lex had managed to find some green Kryptonite. Clark just sneered at him and sped away.

His first stop was the farm. He pounded on the door, waking up the couple. Jonathan glared bleary-eyed at him from the other side of the screen door.

"Clark? What are you doing here?"

"Where's Lois?" he asked.

"In her room, I suppose," the other man said, a hand on the back of his neck as if he was trying to get the crick out.

"No she isn't Dad," Hannah said from the stairway. "She went out earlier and she hasn't come back."

"Hannah, go back to bed," Jonathan ordered, as Martha looked on, her face pinched with worry. "Son, you need to calm down," he said quietly.

"I don't need to calm down," Clark told him. "What I need is to see Lois."

Martha stepped forward. "Clark, we don't know where Lois is. She usually has to tell us where she's going, but she went out without a word. Are you all right?" she asked, peering at him anxiously.

"I'm fine," he said.

He turned away, hearing the sound of an engine coming up the lane. He was sure it was Lois.

About a minute later, the beam from a headlight turned down the farm driveway. Clark ran toward it, making Chloe slam on her brakes. Partially blinded by the light, he could only wait while the car door opened.

"Clark?"

"Lois, you and I need to talk."

He grabbed her arm and pulled her into the barn.

"Clark! You almost pulled my arm out of its socket," she protested.

He pressed her against the wall, claiming her with his lips. The kiss was aggressive and nothing like the kisses they'd already shared. Lois squirmed under him, trying to push him away, while Chloe was calling out, her tone sounding concerned.

"Clark, what are you doing?" Lois asked.

"Run away with me," he said.

"What?"

"Right now. We can be in Vegas by morning."

"Clark, what are you talking about?"

"I want to marry you, Lois."

"Smallville, are you crazy? We can't get married!"

"Why not?"

"Well, for one thing, my dad would never ..."

Clark began to get angry. She was making excuses, as if she didn't want to marry him.

"You're eighteen, Lois. You don't need his permission." He held her tightly, staring into her eyes. "Don't you want to be with me?"

Lois looked scared, her face pale. Clark pressed his lips against hers, at the same time pressing his body as close to hers as he could get. He thought if he could just kiss her, make her open up to him, he could ease her concerns. She struggled against him.

"No, don't! Let me go, please!"

He continued kissing her, refusing to listen to her protests until he felt a hand lightly touch his shoulder and then withdraw.

"Clark, son, you need to let her go."

Clark rolled his eyes and glared at the blonde man.

"Can't you see I'm trying to talk to Lois? It's none of your business."

"Lois' father asked me to protect her and that's what I'm trying to do."

"Some protection," Clark spat. "You would never be able to protect her against Lionel. Not like I can."

"And what makes you so different?" Jonathan said gently. "Clark, I know you think you can take care of her but you haven't even graduated high school."

"I love her," Clark told him, then turned back to Lois. "I love you."

"I know," she said. "I know you do, and I love you, but we're too young for this, Clark." She stroked his cheek. "Please, not like this."

"You don't get it," he said, pain lancing through him as if he'd been stabbed. "You're my only hope," he added, clutching her to him fiercely.

"No I'm not. Clark, please, you have to let me go. You're hurting me."

He pulled away, realising by her wince that he had hurt her. He saw the marks on her arm through the x-ray vision and realised he'd more than just hurt her. Her wrist where he'd grabbed her was badly bruised.

"God, no, Lois, I ... I'm sorry."

He ran out into the night leaving Lois to stare out into the darkness, clutching her bruised wrist.

"Lois, are you all right?" Jonathan asked.

"I ... I hurt my wrist."

"Come on. Let's get inside and take a look at that."

"What about Clark?" she asked.

"Sweetheart I don't think Clark's in any shape to be seeing anyone right now."

She stared at Jonathan as he led her and a worried Chloe into the house, wondering if she was imagining the way he'd looked at Clark. It was as if he understood more about Clark than she did.

Martha took some ice cubes from the ice box and wrapped them with a towel, pressing them against Lois' bruised wrist.

"Are you okay sweetie?" she said.

Lois sighed, then nodded slowly. "I just don't understand why Clark would ..."

"I don't think he meant to do it, Lois," Jonathan said softly. He glanced up at Martha. "If I didn't know better, I'd think he was drunk, or drugged."

Lois stared at the older man, eyes wide. "You really think ..."

Chloe squeezed her shoulder gently, providing comfort where she could.

"He wanted to elope with me."

"You did the right thing," Martha told her.

"Well, Clark didn't seem to think so."

"Something's going on with him," Chloe said. "This is about more than his dad."

"What do you mean, Chloe?" Jonathan asked.

"Clark told me Lionel threatened to hurt Lois if Clark didn't do what he wanted."

"Did he say what?"

Chloe shook her head.

Lois saw Jonathan's lips tightening in a thin line, then he appeared to notice her staring and smiled weakly.

"I'm not about to let Lionel or anyone from that family hurt you," he said. "Now, I'd like to know why you girls felt you needed to sneak out without telling us where you were going."

"I didn't sneak ..." Lois began to protest, blushing because she knew she was in the wrong. "Hannah. That little tattletale."

"No, Hannah did the right thing by telling us you'd gone. Lois, what were you two doing at this time of night?"

"We were trying to get evidence that Clark's dad is a crook," Chloe told him. Lois sent her a look and Chloe shrugged.

"What do you mean you were trying to get evidence?" Martha said.

"We went to the plant. To Lex's office. We found some files. I guess Lionel and Lex thought no one would ever look there. There were some papers. Something about experiments being done on a boy who can run really fast and is really strong."

Lois glanced at the couple, but they barely exchanged a look. She saw Jonathan's hand tightening though, as his knuckles were turning white.

"We found something else too," Chloe said.

"Chloe ..." Lois said sharply. Chloe ignored her.

"Lex mentioned some kind of federal investigation. He's been sending money offshore, into a private bank account. We think he may be planning on breaking away from Lionel."

"Girls, I hate to say this, but this is all supposition. You don't really know if this is what Lex is planning."

"No, but why else would he be sending money offshore?"

"I don't know. Look, it's late and we all need to get to bed."

Lois nodded, willing to do anything to keep the peace. She was relieved that Chloe hadn't mentioned the disc. She still had the odd feeling that the Kents knew more than they were telling about Clark and the Luthor family, but they kept quiet about it.

Next day at school, she ran into Tess.

"Hi," she said. Tess' face looked pinched and worried. "You okay?"

The redhead shook her head, her hair bouncing.

"I guess you didn't hear about the big fight between Dad and Clark."

"I heard something. What happened?"

"Clark put Lex in the hospital. He's okay. Just got a broken wrist and a pretty bad concussion."

Lois frowned at her friend. "Clark did that?"

Tess nodded. "It was really bad! Dad's so furious he's turning the town upside down looking for Clark."

"You mean he's not here?" Lois asked, immediately worried for her boyfriend.

They were joined by Lana as they walked toward the newspaper office. Lois froze as she heard a familiar voice.

"I know you have it, Miss Sullivan."

"I don't know what you're talking about, Mr Luthor."

Lois stared at Lana, who looked scared. She squeezed her arm and nodded.

"It'll be okay," she mouthed.

Chloe came out of the office, with Lionel on her heels. He stopped and stared at them.

"Miss Lane, Miss Lang. Perhaps the two of you can talk some sense into Miss Sullivan."

"About what?" Lois asked, glaring at the man. She could see bruises around his throat, almost as if his windpipe had been nearly crushed.

"Miss Sullivan is in possession of something that does not belong to her. Perhaps, Miss Lane, you can persuade her into returning it."

"Or what?" she asked, suddenly not feeling so brave as the tall man backed her into the wall.

"Get away from her."

Lois stared as Whitney, Lucas and Jimmy stood behind Lionel.

"Lucas, son ..."

"I'm warning you now, Dad, you try to hurt any of these girls and there won't be a rock big enough for you to crawl under."

"Now, son, be reasonable ... I just want what belongs to me. I know these girls have it."

"Yeah? How about you come back when you've got proof," Lucas snarled.

The two men faced each other. Lionel clearly began to realise he was outnumbered as he saw Lucas being flanked by the other two. Lois glanced at Jimmy. She had never considered him the stronger of the gang, but clearly when it came to Chloe there were no limits to what he was prepared to do to protect her. The boy had it bad.

Lionel left but not without shooting a nasty look at Chloe and Lois. Jimmy put his arm around Chloe, while Lucas smiled gently at Lois.

"You girls all right?" he asked.

"We're fine. Thank you, Lucas."

"You want to tell me what that was all about?" Whitney asked Lana coolly.

"It's not your concern," she said. "Just something we're all working on to help Clark."

Whitney rolled his eyes. "You girls are turning into regular Nancy Drews now aren't you?"

Lucas punched his friend lightly on the shoulder.

"Hey, anything that can help prove the old man's a crook is worth it in my book."

Lois sent Clark's brother a grateful smile. The seven of them began walking to homeroom.

"So where is Clark anyway?" Chloe asked Lucas.

"Dunno. He left the house last night and we haven't seen him since."

Lois bit her lip. She had a feeling Clark might be in trouble.

XXXXXXX

After Clark had left the farm, he had run all the way to Metropolis. Straightening his clothes and fixing his ducktail hairdo, he walked the streets until he found the jazz club owned by Morgan Edge. The Atlantis. According to what he'd managed to find out during his reading that day, the club was a front for Intergang.

The jazz club was still open, despite the late hour. It was one of the few that was allowed to remain open until the early hours. Edge clearly had bribed the local authorities to give him the concessions not offered to other clubs.

There was a man on the door wearing a dark suit that looked like it had been fashionable in the forties.

"You can't go in," the man said.

"Try and stop me," Clark said warningly, moving to push past the doorman, who grabbed his wrist.

"I said you can't go in."

Clark just pried the man's fingers off his wrist, squeezing them until he heard the bones crack. The man gasped in pain, pulling away, holding his wrist with his other hand. With a smirk, Clark walked past him and into the club.

It was dark and smoky inside and he could barely see. He paused, listening for a moment to the jazz song the live band was playing. There were couples at tables listening as they drank.

Clark continued into the main room of the club, looking around for anyone who matched Morgan Edge's description. He tuned in his super-hearing, trying to pick up on conversations. It took a little while before he hit on the right one.

"The Luthors are becoming a problem," a voice was saying.

"What do you want me to do, boss?"

"Whatever is necessary, Mannheim."

Clark looked around, following the direction of the voices and realised Edge was in the office upstairs. He ran up the stairs not caring about the people he bumped into along the way and burst into the room.

"What ..."

Clark just sent a glare in the direction of the man he assumed was Mannheim.

"Get out!" he hissed.

The younger man looked at his boss who just waved him out.

"Well, what can I do for you?" Edge asked as soon as Mannheim was gone.

"You can tell me what you have on Lionel," Clark said, his tone menacing.

"And why should I tell you anything, Clark? Yes, I know you're Lionel's son."

Clark just smirked. "Because he wanted me to, uh, persuade you to leave town. And if that didn't work, well, let's just say that he wouldn't mourn you."

For a moment Edge lost his composure, but he quickly covered it up. Clark had assessed the situation correctly. Edge was extremely angry that Lionel had been so casual about killing him.

"Your father convinced me to murder his parents for his inheritance, not that there was much. It gave him enough to start his own business which grew into the company."

"Of course, Lionel was somewhere else when all this happened?"

"Of course." Edge looked at him. "What are you planning on doing with this information?"

"You're going to write a full confession and then you're going to leave town. Permanently."

"I have business interests ..."

"I don't care about your interests, Edge. I want him gone, you understand me? I'm through with letting him control my life."

Clark knew he could be intimidating if he wanted to be. He'd always been taller than everyone in his class and as soon as he'd understood his own power, he'd learned to use it to his advantage. While his powers were leashed, so to speak, at the present moment, he wanted to make sure Edge knew what he could do if they were unleashed. As he stared at the older man, it was clear Edge got the message.

Within an hour, Edge had written the confession outlining the entire plot to murder Lachlan and Eliza Luthor. Clark took the paper, folding it and putting it in an envelope, addressing it to the Metropolis branch of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

It wouldn't be long now, he thought.

He was shaking as he left the bureau office that morning, having used his super speed to place the envelope on an agent's desk. Clark realised he was coming down from the artificial high he'd experienced with the red meteor rock. Shivering, Clark ran to California, seeking solace in the only place other than Lois' arms that had ever made him feel welcome.

God, Lois, he thought. He had really hurt her. He could have broken her wrist, or worse. He decided he wouldn't blame her if she chose never to speak to him again.

"Hey, you okay?"

Clark looked up. The sun was already high in the sky. He realised he'd fallen asleep right there on the sand.

"Bart?"

The teen smiled at him as he sat down.

"Yeah. You look wrecked man."

"Bad night."

"Wanna talk about it?"

Clark found himself telling Bart everything, from the threats against Lois to the red meteor rock. Bart nodded knowingly.

"Yeah, you got yourself into some bad shit there. What are you going to do?"

"I don't know. I can't go home."

"You can always stay here. Hang out with me."

"I want to. God, you have no idea how much I want to."

"But you gotta protect your girl, even if she's mad at you right now."

"Yeah."

"That's cool, man. At least hang out for a while here until you can figure out what to do."

Bart was right. Clark just needed a little time away from his own headspace. At least the other boy understood some of what he was going through.

By the time he left California, he had completely sweated out the meteor rock and was a little clearer in his head. He decided there was only one place for him to go, and it wasn't the mansion.


	13. Chapter 12

When he finally reached Smallville, it was late. He stopped running not far from the mansion, using his vision to see through the walls. Tess was in her room, but Lucas was nowhere to be found on the grounds. Lex was, as always, working in the study.

He heard the sound of a car approaching and hid in the bushes. The headlights shone on his location, blinding him for a moment. He shielded his eyes, realising the car had stopped.

"Clark?"

He got up. "Whitney?"

There were three forms silhouetted in the darkness. Whitney, Jimmy and Lucas.

"Oh man, bro, am I glad to see you! You got the girls going ape wondering where you were."

He felt Lucas pull him into an embrace, which was quickly broken.

"Sorry man, I'm just glad you're okay. What the hell happened?"

Clark shook his head.

"Listen, you and Tess, you gotta get out of the house, okay?"

"Why? What did you do?"

"Hopefully fixed things so the old man will no longer be a problem."

Lucas frowned at him. "Then I guess you didn't hear. Dad heard the feds were gearing up for a raid on the company offices. He was ranting and raving about it this afternoon. How they had some mysterious witness who made some claims Lionel murdered our grandparents. He went to Metropolis as soon as he heard about it."

Damn! Clark thought. It was just like Lionel to try and wriggle out of it.

"Listen man," Whitney said, "you need to lay low for a couple of days."

"At least," Jimmy finished. "Don't worry about the girls. We'll take care of them."

"Yeah. I'll treat Lois like she's my sister," Lucas assured him. He clapped a hand on his shoulder. "It'll be okay. I've got your back bro. Just like you've always got mine. I know I act like a total greaseball sometimes, but when the fur flies ..."

Clark smiled at his brother. "Thanks Luc. That means a lot to me."

"Go on, get out of here before Lex figures out you're here."

He nodded and took off running, aware of the three boys watching. He continued running at human pace until the boys were out of sight, then sped away.

A few moments later, he was at the Kent Farm. Clark had decided the best place for him to get shelter was the barn. If he was quiet enough, maybe he could hide out there for a few days until the furore died down, or until he figured out what he could do about his brother and sister. As much as Lucas assured him they were safe enough, pretending not to know what went down, he still worried about them. If he knew Lionel, he wouldn't hesitate to hurt Lucas or Tess to force Clark into doing what he wanted.

Clark hadn't figured on the horses being in the barn or the racket they caused when they realised someone who didn't belong there was inside. He shrank in the shadows, hearing the screen door open and footsteps across the hard ground.

A light suddenly illuminated the scene. Clark shrank back, hoping Jonathan wouldn't see him. No such luck.

"Clark? What are you doing here? It's the middle of the night."

"I'm sorry," he said, his voice hoarse. "I ... I didn't know where else to go."

Jonathan held up the lantern, frowning at him.

"What do you mean you didn't know where else to go?"

"I ... please, sir, don't make me ... I know Lois is mad at me, but please, I just ..."

"Son, why don't you come into the house with me and we can sit down and talk about this."

For the first time in two days, Clark really began to hope things could turn around for him. He let the older man help him up and followed him out of the barn into the house. Martha had also got up. She immediately put on the kettle when she saw his pale face.

Jonathan sat him down at the table.

"All right, Clark, tell me what this is about."

"It's ... Lionel. He ..."

Clark sighed, then found himself telling the couple what had happened the day before.

"He was trying to force me to ..."

"To do what, Clark?" Martha asked, putting mugs of hot cocoa down on the table.

"Thank you sweetheart," Jonathan said. "What did he want you to do?"

"There's this guy. It's something to do with the business. With Luthorcorp. He wanted me to ..." He whispered the words. "...kill him. I mean, he said to persuade him first, but he implied that if that failed, I should ..." He swallowed.

"Clark!" Martha gasped.

"Son, you need to go to the police. If Lionel is making you commit murder, then you need to tell them."

Clark wasn't willing to tell them what he'd already done. He didn't want to put them in danger too.

"He'll hurt Tess or Luc. Even Lex. I mean, I hate Lex, but I ... I can't just let Lionel hurt him too."

"Sweetie, I know you want to protect your family, but what do you think will happen to them if you continue to refuse to do what he wants? What do you think will happen to them if you go to jail for something he made you do?"

"I don't know what to do. He scares me. I hate him. I wish he'd never found me in that cornfield."

Martha and Jonathan exchanged a look.

"Uh, son, there's something we need to show you," Jonathan said.

Clark frowned at the blonde man as he got up and went to the sideboard, pulling out a drawer.

"We've never talked about this with anyone. Well, it was too painful. By the time we realised the truth, we knew there was no way we could fight Lionel."

Clark frowned at them. "What do you mean, fight Lionel?"

Jonathan brought over what appeared to be a photograph album. Clark's hand was trembling as he reached over to touch the photograph on the first page. The picture was kind of blurry, but he recognised the boy in the black-and-white photo. It was him! A little younger than he remembered, he supposed, but it was definitely him.

"We have a story to tell you, Clark. Did you ever wonder why you were called Clark when your brothers and sister were given names starting with L?"

He shook his head at Martha. He'd just assumed it was because he already had a name when he'd been adopted by Lionel and Lillian.

"Clark is my maiden name," Martha said. "I always thought it would make a great first name."

"I don't understand."

"We found you, or rather, you found us. The day of the meteor shower. Our truck overturned. I remember looking over and seeing you walking toward us, naked as the day you were born. You were maybe about two or two and a half years old. We managed to crawl out of the truck and Martha picked you up in her arms. We walked away from the truck and saw the ship you came to us in."

"Well, then Jonathan managed to find another truck and loaded the spaceship. We were driving along the road when Lionel came running out, screaming that he needed help. Lex was laying in the cornfield. He'd lost all his hair and had gone into shock. We took him and Lionel to the hospital and thought that would be the end of it."

"We had no idea what to do with you, except protect you," Jonathan said. "We brought you home, but we knew if the authorities found you, they would take you away, put you in a lab to study you. We couldn't let that happen. So we told people we'd adopted you."

Clark was suddenly assailed with memories of being held in the arms of a woman with long, red hair. Of a clear, soft voice, singing to him. Lillian had kept him at arms' length at best. He couldn't remember ever being hugged when he cried, except for those brief memories. He'd thought they were dreams, but now he understood.

"Mama?" he whispered.

Martha nodded, tears in her eyes. "Yes. It took you a little while to learn our language, but I remember the day you first called me Mama. I picked you up in my arms and held you so tight. Your eyes were so big and you were still so very unsure about it all, but you were the most precious thing in the world to me."

"What happened?"

"Lionel," Jonathan said darkly. "We made the mistake of trusting him, thinking that since he said he owed us a favour for helping him save Lex he would help us with your adoption. We knew we couldn't do it through normal channels. Family services would ask too many questions that we couldn't answer. Not honestly. So we asked Lionel to use his money and influence. He created an adoption agency and had the papers drawn up. Then he blackmailed me into talking some people into selling their creamed corn plant, which became the fertiliser plant."

"We thought that would be the end of it," Martha said, "but a year later, I was out shopping when some people came to the farm. They took your ship. Jonathan had left you playing in the barn while he worked on the tractor."

"I didn't even know they were there until they knocked me out. When I came to, you were gone and the doors to the storm cellar were wide open. For a moment I thought you'd gone inside but then I realised the ship was gone."

"It wasn't until we learned that Lionel had adopted a little boy, a few weeks later, and that his name was Clark, that we knew what had happened. We didn't have the means to fight him."

"Why didn't you go to the police?" Clark asked, crying in earnest now, the tears spilling from his eyes.

"Oh sweetie, believe me, we wanted to, but we knew we would have to explain the real circumstances of your adoption. Then Lionel sent us a message telling us if we tried to get you back he would hurt you. We left it alone, to protect you." Martha was crying as well, her beautiful face wet with tears.

"We know now that was the wrong thing to do. If we'd had the power, we would have taken you back, taken you as far away from Smallville as we possibly could."

"Is that why you hate me?" he asked, thinking about the way they'd been so, not hostile really, but not exactly friendly.

"No, sweetie, we don't hate you. We've never hated you. We understand now, exactly what has been done to you. Oh Clark, no, we could never hate you."

"Martha's right, son. I admit, when you first came to the farm to take Lois out, we had our concerns. You had a reputation around town, and we thought perhaps Lionel had made you become someone we couldn't trust, but I've seen the way you are with Lois and now I know it was all a smokescreen. You were protecting yourself against your father, as much as you were protecting your brother and sister. We were worried when you and Lois began to spend so much time together. Worried what Lionel might do, especially if he thought we would reveal the truth to you."

Clark was overwhelmed by the revelations. He'd always known there had been something not right about his place in the Luthors. He still had vague memories of medical tests when he'd been little. Of Lex's jealousy of his abilities.

"I have to ... I ... " He stood up, lost and confused. His whole world had been turned upside down in one night.

"Clark, don't go doing anything you'll regret," Jonathan said. "Stay here tonight and we can talk about this in the morning. You need some time to calm down and think about what you're going to do."

He nodded, letting the gentle caresses from Martha soothe him.

"I'll make you up a bed on the sofa," she said. "I know it's not exactly comfortable, but it's the best I can do."

"It'll be okay," he told her. "I can usually sleep anywhere."

His eyes were drooping and he was beginning to realise just how exhausted he was. He felt the strong hand of the blonde farmer on his shoulder and smiled wanly back at the older man as Martha got up to get some bedding. The sofa was made up in no time at all.

"Get some sleep, son," Jonathan said gently. "We'll talk more in the morning."

XXXXXX

Lois was startled to see Clark at the breakfast table when she got up the next morning.

"Clark!" she said, hugging him. "I was so worried about you!"

His return hug was not as exuberant. Lois realised why as she followed his gaze and saw the strapping on her wrist.

"It's just bruised," she assured him. "It was an accident. I know you didn't mean to."

He just looked away from her, his eyes full of pain. Martha put a gentle hand on his shoulder and set a plate of bacon and eggs in front of him.

"Eat," she said gently. "You need your strength."

Hannah came running down the stairs and froze as she saw Clark.

"Mom? What's he doing here?"

"Clark is staying with us for the time being," Jonathan said firmly, having come in from the barn.

"Why? I would've thought we'd be beneath him."

"Hannah!" Martha said sharply. "That's enough!"

"He hurt Lois!"

"It was an accident," Lois told her.

"Hannah, sit down at the table. Clark, sit down and eat your breakfast," Martha said. Clark had got up, looking uncertain.

"Hannah's right," he said quietly. "I shouldn't be here."

"Hannah doesn't know the situation and you are going to stay here until we can figure something out. You are not going back, son, do you understand me?"

"But what if ..." Clark began to protest. "What if Lex tried to ..."

"Then Lex will see the business end of my shotgun," Jonathan told him. "You're eighteen, son. In the eyes of the law, you are an adult and not even the authorities can force you to do something you don't want to do."

Lois frowned, wondering what was going on. Why were the Kents suddenly being so protective of Clark? Had something happened?

The screen door opened and Chloe and Lana burst in.

"Oh my gosh, have you heard?" Lana asked. "Clark?" She ran to him and hugged him. For a moment Lois was jealous, until she realised that Clark had pulled away immediately.

"We've been so worried about you," Chloe said. "Tess is a complete mess. She said it's been so weird at home. Are you okay?"

Clark nodded.

Jonathan looked at the two girls. "Heard what?" he asked when he could get a word in edgewise.

"There was a shootout last night at the docks in Metropolis. Lionel's dead and Morgan Edge is in FBI custody."

Lois looked at her cousin incredulously.

"What?" Clark said.

Chloe nodded, bouncing up and down excitedly. "It's been all over the news. Lionel apparently went to confront Morgan Edge down at the docks. The feds figured out what was going on and went to stop it. Lionel was shot by one of Edge's men when he turned on Edge."

Lois felt almost faint. With Lionel gone, there was no telling what Lex would do with the company.

The door opened again and Lucas walked in with a pale looking Tess.

"Clark. We knew you'd be here," he said.

"What is this? Grand Central Station?" Lois quipped.

"Lois," Martha said gently. "Lucas. Tess. How are you?"

"We're sorry to burst in on you like this, Mrs Kent," Tess said.

"Don't you worry about that, sweetie," Martha said, taking in the girl's white face. "Here, sit down. I'll make you some tea."

Tess brightened, smiling briefly. "Thank you," she said.

"It's safe to say we've all had some shocks this morning," Jonathan said.

Lucas nodded. "Yeah. The feds came last night and Lex went with them. He came back half an hour ago and told us the company was under investigation for several violations. Of course, Lex is denying knowledge of everything."

"He would," Clark snorted. Lois glanced at him. He hadn't spoken a word since he'd tried to leave, so she was surprised at his mild outburst. He had barely eaten a bite of the breakfast Martha had given him. Lois gently nudged him.

"Eat," she said softly. "Martha's right. You need to keep your strength up."

He looked at her for a long moment, his gaze never wavering. His face slowly softened and he nodded, turning back to his plate. He was clearly listening to the chatter around him but wasn't absorbing it.

"Lois, Hannah, why don't you two go and do your chores," Jonathan suggested gently.

Lois frowned, but nodded. Chloe got up.

"I'll come help you, Lo," she said.

Lois thanked her cousin and went out to the barn, grabbing the shovel to muck out the stalls. Chloe grabbed another shovel and did the same.

"You okay?" Chloe asked. "You haven't said much."

"It's kind of overwhelming," Lois said. "I didn't even know Clark was here until I got up this morning."

"Is he ... you know, different?"

"A little. Not like the other night. He feels really bad about that."

"Well, so he should."

"Chloe, it was an accident. I think what happened kind of scared him."

Chloe nodded. She glanced outside the barn, then frowned.

"Hey. What's the sheriff doing here?" she asked.

Lois looked. Jonathan and Martha came out to talk to the sheriff.

"Clark is under our protection," Jonathan said.

"They just want to talk to him," Ethan told them. "Jonathan ..."

"Clark has done nothing wrong," Martha answered.

"Maybe not, but he was still seen in Morgan Edge's jazz club two nights ago."

"Ethan, please!"

"Mr Kent, Mrs Kent, it's all right. I should ..."

Lois looked at Clark. He seemed pale but resigned as he spoke to Ethan.

"Lionel wanted me to talk to Edge. Make him leave town."

"Why you?" Ethan asked.

"He thought I might have better luck. I can be kind of ... um, intimidating when I want to be."

Ethan nodded. "You certainly have a reputation around this town. I still don't get why you would ..."

"He threatened to hurt my girlfriend if I didn't do what he wanted."

"Ethan, there's something you should know," Jonathan said. "Clark is the boy we adopted years ago."

The sheriff stared. "What? Are you suggesting ... why didn't you come to me? Why lie about it?"

"The adoption wasn't done through normal channels," Jonathan said quietly. "It's legal," he added. "Clark's parents were killed in the meteor shower. When he disappeared from the farm, we didn't know what to do, and then Lionel announced he'd adopted a boy. We knew we couldn't fight someone like Lionel, so we just told people that Clark's real parents had claimed him. Ethan, I'm sorry we lied to you, but ..."

Ethan nodded slowly. "I understand. I'm sorry, Jonathan."

Lois was reeling with this revelation. Now that she knew the truth, a lot of it made sense. The way the Kents had been so unfriendly. It wasn't that they hadn't liked or trusted Clark. They were afraid! There was no telling what Lionel would have done to any of them if the truth had slipped out.

She realised too that Lionel had been so against Clark dating her because it would have brought him closer to the Kents, and too close to finding out the truth about his adoption into the Luthor clan.

Chloe was making odd sounds beside her. Lois looked at her cousin, noticing the blonde's mouth opening and closing as if she didn't know what to say.

The sheriff left soon after, telling them the feds still wanted to talk to Clark, but he would give them the information Clark had given him. Lois went to her boyfriend and hugged him. This time, Clark didn't withdraw, holding on to her as if he didn't want to let go.

"A lot of things make sense now," she said quietly. "I know about you," she continued. "About the experiments Lionel did on you when you were a kid."

Clark pulled back and looked at her.

"Lois ..."

"It's okay. We don't have to talk about this right now, but there's something you need to see."

XXXXX

Clark felt uneasy, not only at Lois' revelation that she knew the truth, but also that she had gone digging, along with Chloe and Lana. Even if Lionel was dead, Lex was still a threat, and he worried that Lex might come after the girls.

Lois asked Chloe to drive them into town and Lana accompanied them. Lucas and Tess decided to return to the mansion, opting to try and appear as normal as possible. If at least to keep Lex from figuring out where Clark was and what he was doing.

He frowned as they pulled up outside the Talon. Lana smiled at him.

"There's a door that leads to the alley," she said. "Come on."

He followed the three girls up the stairs to what he realised was an apartment.

"Nell sometimes rents this out, but it's not rented at the moment," Lana said. "Um, Whit and I have been up here a couple of times to, you know, make-out."

"What is it that you have to show me," he asked Lois.

Lois turned to Lana. Clark frowned at the two girls, wondering when they'd become such good friends. Not that he minded, he supposed. He was just surprised, considering he thought Lana had been jealous of Lois.

Lana went to the window while Chloe showed him some documents.

"We did a little detecting and we found out Lionel was doing some experiments on someone about twelve years ago."

"And we found this," Lana said, holding out a metal disc. Clark stared at it. There were glyphs which appeared to be etched on one side. Clark didn't recognise the symbols.

"What is it?" he asked.

"We don't know," Lois said. "We were hoping you might be able to find out. I mean, since we found it in Lex's files."

She sent him a look which made him think she hadn't told Chloe or Lana what she'd told him.

Clark examined the disc over and over, but he had no idea what it was. He had the strong feeling, however, that it had been meant for him.

He realised it was time for him to face the music with Lex.

"Lois, I have to go back to the mansion," he said. "I have to face Lex."

Lois nodded, her expression showing her reluctance to let him go.

"Promise you'll call me," she said. "And be careful with Lex."

"I will," he replied.

Feeling almost torn apart, Clark made his way back to the mansion. Lex was in the study, talking with Tess and Lucas, clearly about their futures.

"Now that Lionel's gone, it falls to me to make sure you're both taken care of," he was saying. He looked up, clearly startled at Clark's sudden appearance. "Clark. Where have you been? I've been worried about you."

"Save it, Lex," Clark said. "We both know you knew exactly where I was, otherwise you wouldn't have sent the sheriff."

"Clark, I don't know what Ethan Miller told you ..."

Clark held up a hand. "Just stop. I don't want to hear any more of your lies."

"And how have I lied to you, Clark?"

"Oh come on. Don't tell me you didn't know about my so-called adoption? Or how Lionel stole me from the Kents?"

Lex appeared startled, his eyes widening. When he spoke, it was in a slow, measured tone.

"Clark, I ... if I'd known, trust me I would never ... My god!"

Clark sighed. Lex was never going to tell him the truth; that much was clear. He held up the disc.

"Where's the ship Lex?"

Lex stared at the octagonal shape. "Where did you get that?"

"From your office at the plant," he said. "Where's the ship?"

"Why? What are you planning on doing with that?"

"Finding out who I really am. Don't make me use force, Lex," Clark said, approaching the older man and grasping his shirt collar. Lex got the message.

"It's in the plant. Level Three."

Clark backed off. He looked at the two people he loved most. They might not be his real siblings, but he still thought of them as such.

"Lucas is great with his hands and he has a real talent for machinery. It's a better use of his time than boosting cars. Make sure he gets into a good school. And Tess ... I'm not sure what she wants to do, but whatever it is, she'll be great at it."

"What are you going to do?" Lex asked.

"It doesn't matter." He glared at the older man. "As of now, I am no longer Clark Luthor. I am Clark Kent. I warn you now, Lex. If you do anything to hurt Lois or the Kents in retaliation, then I will make sure certain information comes to light about your involvement in Lionel's schemes. Oh, and that goes double for Lucas and Tess. They're innocent in all this, and they deserve good lives. Away from you."

Lucas and Tess both stood. "We're with you, Clark," Tess said, hugging him, then turning and looking at Lex.

"What she said," Lucas said quietly, turning the full force of his own glare on Lex.

Lex plainly realised he had no option and agreed to pay Tess and Lucas a monthly stipend as well as their future education. He admitted he knew the terms of Lionel's will and each of the Luthor siblings, including Clark, had been promised a share of the estate. Clark wanted to waive his rights to his share until Lucas and Tess insisted he was owed that much for what Lionel had done to him.

Clark left the mansion for good that night feeling as if a huge weight had lifted. He returned to the farm. The lights were on which meant the Kents were still up. He could see through the screen door that Lois and Hannah were sitting on the sofa, opposite the older couple.

Jonathan came to the door at his quiet knock.

"Clark?" he said, frowning slightly at the case Clark had packed.

"I want to come home," Clark said.

Jonathan smiled and opened the door, enveloping him in a warm embrace.

"Welcome home, son."


End file.
